Introduction God Remains Faithful in His Judgment. Paul has been making an argument since chapter 1 from verse 18, that God’s wrath is revealed against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, who by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. In verses 1:18-32, Paul argued that the wrath of God is revealed against all those who refuse to acknowledge God as God From verses 2:1-29, Paul turned towards the Jews, and told them that, they too were facing God’s wrath, and their mere possession of the law and their physical circumcision, will not protect them. Paul told them that both they as Jews, and Gentiles or Non Jews, will face the same judgement and will be judged in the same way. Since they as Jews, are not obedient to the very same law that they possess, they are equally going to face God’s judgement. The next logical question to what Paul was saying was that, if Jews are going to be judged the same way as Gentiles, what then is the value of being a circumcised Jew? In other words, what is the point of being a circumcised Jew? In 3:1-8, Paul answered this question. God Remains Faithful “Then what advantage hasRead More

Introduction In Chapter 1 from verse 18, to the end of the chapter, Paul showed how those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, deserve and will face God’s wrath. In Chapter 2, Paul turned his attentions to the Jews who were under the impression that, because they were Jews, they will escape God’s wrath. Paul told the Jews that God will judge them the same way He will judge Gentiles. Then from verse 17-27, Paul replies to the objection by the Jews that, how could they as Jews, be treated like Gentiles, to the point of even being in danger of God’s wrath, when they are God’s chosen people, who possess God’s written law and have a mark of circumcision. In verse 17-24, Paul replies to the objection regarding the possession of the law, and why that would not protect the Jews from God’s wrath. We have already dealt with this portion of scripture and you can follow the link below to read through that: link: https://undilutedwordofgod.co.za/2019/02/christians-who-dishonor-god-part-1.html In verse 25-29(b), Paul replies to the objection regarding circumcision, and why that would not protect the Jews from God’s wrath. This is what we will deal with in this message. Circumcision isRead More

Video and an Audio File You can listen on Apple Podcast at: https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/it-is-not-about-you-luke-9-23/id1434188833?i=1000444397147 Or watch on YouTube at: Or listen on Soundcloud at: RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT)We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

This message is part 5 of this series and the last part, may God be glorified. In the last four messages, I indicated that the main theme of this message is about Christians whose lives contradict scripture, and thereby dishonor God. I indicated that I have divided this message into 4 headings namely: The claim of Special Status by the Jews (Rom 2:17-18)The Claim of Special Ability by the Jews (Rom 2:19-20)The Contradictory Conduct of the Jews (Rom 2:21-22)The Consequence of the Conduct of the Jews (Rom 2:23-24) In the previous messages we dealt with the first three points. The first which was the claim of special status by the Jews which, covered verses 17 to 18 of Romans 2. In summary of this point, we learned that the Jews called themselves Jews and claimed special religious privilege, the law was the basis of all their hopes, they saw God as having a special regard for them and they took pride in God, they knew God’s will because they had the law, and lastly, they were able to differentiate between what is morally excellent or superior and what is not, because they had been instructed in the law. All this, wasRead More

Introduction This message is part 4 of a message which I did not intend to make in more than one message but here we are in part 4, may God be glorified. In the last three messages, I indicated that the main theme of this message is about Christians whose lives contradict scripture, and thereby dishonor God. I indicated that I have divided this message into 4 headings namely: The claim of Special Status by the Jews (Rom 2:17-18)The Claim of Special Ability by the Jews (Rom 2:19-20)The Contradictory Conduct of the Jews (Rom 2:21-22)The Consequence of the Conduct of the Jews (Rom 2:23-24) In the last messages we dealt with the first two points. The first which was the claim of special status by the Jews which, covered verses 17 to 18 of Romans 2. In summary of this point, we learned that the Jews called themselves Jews and claimed special religious privilege, the law was the basis of all their hopes, they saw God as having a special regard for them and they took pride in God, they knew God’s will because they had the law, and lastly, they were able to differentiate between what is morally excellentRead More

Introduction We saw in the previous message how the law gave the Jews special status which led them to claim certain special abilities as a result. I indicated in the last message that I have divided this message into 4 headings namely: The claim of Special Status by the Jews (Rom 2:17-18)The Claim of Special Ability by the Jews (Rom 2:19-20)The Contradictory Conduct of the Jews (Rom 2:21-22)The Consequence of the Conduct of the Jews (Rom 2:23-24) In the past two messages, we have already dealt with the first point regarding the claim of special status by the Jews, and we have already started with the second point regarding the claim of special ability. As indicated in the past message, the one common factor which serves as a basis for the Jews’ claim of special privilege was the law. The Jews claimed special privilege because they received the law from God, because they had all their hopes in the law, because they took pride in God who gave them the law, because they knew God’s will because they had the law, and they could differentiate between what is morally excellent or superior and what is not, because they had beenRead More

Introduction This message is part 2 of a message which I did not intend to make in more than one message but here we are in part 2, may God be glorified. In the last message, I indicated that the main theme of this message is about Christians whose lives contradict scripture, and thereby dishonor God. I indicated in the last message that I have divided this message into 4 headings namely: The claim of Special Status by the Jews (Rom 2:17-18)The Claim of Special Ability by the Jews (Rom 2:19-20)The Contradictory Conduct of the Jews (Rom 2:21-22)The Consequence of the Conduct of the Jews (Rom 2:23-24) In the last message we dealt with the first point, which was the claim of special status by the Jews which, covered verses 17 to 18 of Romans 2. In summary of this point, we learned that the Jews called themselves Jews and claimed special religious privilege, the law was the basis of all their hopes, they saw God as having a special regard for them and they took pride in God, they knew God’s will because they had the law, and lastly, they were able to differentiate between what is morally excellentRead More

Introduction Romans 2:17-24 The name of God is discredited, it is dishonored, it is brought into disrepute by Christians! Yes by you and me who call ourselves Christians. We dishonor God. The world looks at us as Christians, and they laugh at our God. They say what kind of God is this, who allows His own children to behave in a manner that contradicts what He has commanded them. The world calls us hypocrites who live contrary to what we preach. What we say and what we do as Christians contradict what we preach from the scriptures. Instead of being the light and the salt to this world, we have become just the opposite. The main theme of this message is about Christians whose lives contradict scripture, and thereby dishonor God. Christians like you and me. Yes you reading this message. The above is exactly how the Jews of Paul’s time were behaving. In this message, we will see that the Jews claimed to have special status and ability, because of God who gave them the law. We will also see how despite having the law and claiming special status and ability, their conduct contradicted the very law they possessed,Read More

Introduction A mass murderer has been found “not guilty”, because it was shown that they did not know that killing another human being is wrong. This person has faced judgement and has survived because of lack of knowledge. I am sure that most of you reading this message, will simply not accept this kind of situation. Everyone will be up in arms and on the streets, showing their disapproval of this kind of judgement and demanding justice for the victims and their families. We will all be calling this an injustice. God also does not approve of this injustice and has made sure that no one will escape His judgement on the basis that they did not know. We all know the law of God, therefore, God expects us to obey it, or face His judgement for disobedience. We will see in our passage for this message, how God has ensured that no one escapes His judgement because of lack of knowledge. We must obey or face God’s Judgement Because God has written His Law in our Hearts Romans 2:14 – 15(a) (ESV Strong’s) 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the lawRead More

Introduction Can we escape God’s Judgement? Imagine being chased by a lion. You have been told all your life that when you see a lion, you must look for a tree and climb it and you will be safe. As the lion is chasing you and getting closer to you, you are so afraid because you know if it catches you, you are dead. You lift up your eyes and there is a tree in front of you. You then decide to give everything you have to get to that tree. You run like you never ran before, knowing that if I climb that tree, I will be safe. You finally get to the tree and then you climb it. You are still scared but now you are relieved knowing that you are safe. You watch the lion as it gets closer and closer to the tree. When the lion gets to the tree, it stops at the bottom of the tree, looks up and sees you. All of a sudden, the lion starts to climb the tree slowly coming towards you. Then at that moment you realize that everything you have been told about a lion was a lie.Read More

Summary of Romans 1-2:1-11 Paul indicated in Romans chapter 1 that God judges those who refuse to honor Him and give thanks to Him, and those who refuse to acknowledge Him. Paul indicated that God in His judgement, gives them over to be fully controlled by the desires of their hearts and to be fully controlled by their vain minds. This leads them to sexual immorality and a list of sins listed at the end of chapter 1. In chapter 2, verses 1-11, then Paul turned to the Jews who would most probably agree with him that these Gentiles deserved God’s judgement. Paul told them that they are hypocrites for making judgements on the Gentiles for the very things that they themselves were doing. Paul indicated to them that simply because God by His kindness, had not judged them yet, it did not mean He will not judge them. He told them that God’s kindness was meant to lead them to repentance and by their refusal to repent, they were storing up wrath for themselves on judgement day. Paul told them that God will judge each one of them based on their works, and based on these, others will receiveRead More

Introduction In verses 1-5 of this chapter, Paul has demonstrated to the Jews that by judging the gentiles for the very same things that they themselves are doing, that is self-condemnation. They will not be spared from God’s judgement. In verses 6-11, Paul gives us more details regarding how God will execute His judgement. Paul says no one will escape this judgement and all will be judged by the same standard. God shows no partiality in judgement. The Basis of Our Judgement Romans 2:6 (ESV Strong’s) 6 He will render to each one according to his works: In executing His judgement upon us, Paul says God will render or reward each person according to His works or that which they have done. One should pause here and say that Paul elsewhere makes it very clear that salvation is not by works. Therefore we cannot interpret verse 6 as salvation by works. Paul is addressing how we will be judged and not how we can be saved. Paul says God’s judgement will be based on our works. Works reflect whether we are saved or not. James says faith that does not result in works is dead. Therefore based on these works,Read More

Introduction In Romans 1, especially from verses 18-32, Paul specifically concentrated on those that despite having the knowledge of God, refused to honor Him, give thanks to Him or acknowledge Him. Their knowledge of God came from what God has revealed about Himself in nature, and Paul says this knowledge is enough to render them without an excuse for their willful rebellion against God, hence the wrath of God is revealed against them. It is generally accepted that these people are gentiles (gentiles are non-Jews) since the Jews would have had not only nature, but also the law of God to give them knowledge about God. Now in chapter 2, Paul turns towards Jews who are agreeing with him that the gentiles have no excuse for their sin and deserve the wrath of God. Paul shows them that they are hypocritical judges. Hypocritical Judges Romans 2:1-5 (ESV Strong’s) 1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose,Read More

Introduction In our previous message, we learned that once you suppress the truth, you then refuse to honor God and give thanks to Him, then you start worshipping false gods, which include self worship, then God hands you over to be fully controlled by the desires of your heart, then that leads to sexual immorality, which among others leads to homosexuality. In this message, we will see that God not only gave them over to be fully controlled by the desires of their hearts but, He also gave them over to a worthless mind to do what is not supposed to be done. God gave them over to a debased mind Romans 1:28-32 (ESV Strong’s) 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die,Read More

Listen on Apple iTunes Podcast at: https://itunes.apple.com/za/podcast/repentance-is-a-gift-from-god-2-timothy-2-24-26/id1434188833?i=1000421250682&mt=2 Listen on SoundCloud at: Watch on You Tube at: Other Useful Links: https://undilutedwordofgod.co.za/2018/08/repent-for-knowledge-of-truth-bible.html https://undilutedwordofgod.co.za/ RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

Introduction In the last message we discussed the first consequences of atheism (a claim that God does not exist) and we saw that it leads to worthless thinking, immorality, foolishness and idolatry. Remember that atheism is a sin of suppressing the truth about God in unrighteousness. We will now look at the second consequence of atheism, which follows from the first one. As I indicated in the last message, it is a slippery slope. Consequence of Atheism Romans 1:24-27 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (ESV Strong’s) We saw the progression of how one moves from suppressing the truth aboutRead More

Introduction We saw in the last message how atheism leads to one moving from suppressing the truth about God in unrighteousness, to refusing to honor God and give thanks to Him, to worshipping false gods, to being given over by God to be fully controlled by the desires of their hearts and ultimately to sexual immorality, one of which is homosexuality. Once you suppress the truth about God, it is a slippery slope into hell and eventually the lake of fire. In this message, we will see how Paul describes explicitly what he means by homosexuality. Homosexuality Romans 1:26-27 (ESV Strong’s) 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. In verse 26(b) above, Paul says that some of the women among those people who have been given over by God to be fully controlled by the shameful desires of their hearts, exchange natural relations for those relations that areRead More

Introduction Atheism is a sin as it leads to failure to honor God as God and failure to give thanks to Him, and it has consequences. Paul having argued that there is no such thing as an atheist or someone who genuinely doesn’t know that God exists, he now moves on to give us three consequences that follow after one has decided to suppress the truth about God that they know. You see once you convince yourselves that God doesn’t exist, despite knowing that He exists and having no excuse, then from then onwards, it is a slippery slope for you. As I said, there are three consequences and in this message, we will deal with the first. Consequences of Atheism Romans 1:21-23 (ESV Strong’s) 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Once you suppress the truth about God because you want to continue living in unrighteousness,Read More

Introduction Suppression of the truth versus ignorance of the truth is what Paul will show in our passage today, proving that there is no such thing as an atheist or even atheism for that matter. Paul indicated in verses 15-18, that he is not ashamed of the gospel, because in the gospel lies the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, and that is because God has revealed His righteousness which begins and ends with faith, and that we must achieve this righteousness by faith, because God’s wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Now, in verse 19-20, Paul gives support for his statement that people suppress the truth instead of saying that they don’t know the truth. Word Study Romans 1:19 (ESV Strong’s) 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. There are three words in verses 19 that need to be first understood if verses 19-20 is going to make sense and if Paul’s message is going to be understood. The words are “what can be known”, “plain” and “has shown”. “What can be known”Read More

Introduction Having laid the basis, Paul now moves into the heart of his letter to the Romans. I would encourage you to read my previous messages which deals with verses 1 to 14 in detail. This will help you understand how Paul laid the basis for what he is about to say. In verses 15 to 18 which we will be dealing with in this message, Paul lays a basis for the whole letter. We will see him telling us why he is eager to preach the gospel to the Romans and by this, he begins a theme that will last until chapter 3 verse 20. Paul is Eager to Preach the Gospel Romans 1:15 (ESV Strong’s) 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. The word “eager” means ready and willing. What Paul is saying here is that he is ready and willing to preach the gospel to those who are in Rome. This comes after having stated in verses 8-14, that he longs to see them to impart some spiritual gifts to strengthen them, and to reap some harvest among them as well as among the rest of the gentiles.Read More

Introduction As a recap, we have already dealt with Romans 1:1-7. In that passage, we saw Paul arguing very well and showing that he is a minister of the gospel, having been chosen by Jesus Christ for this purpose. He went on to indicate that the gospel is from God and therefore authoritative and true. He showed that the gospel is about Jesus Christ. He went on to also show that he was was chosen to preach this gospel by grace. He indicated that his task was to bring the obedience of faith to the glory of Jesus Christ. He was tasked to preach the gospel to all. Now in the passage we are looking at in this message, Paul explains his longing to visit Rome and how he has been hindered to do that and why he wants to visit Rome. He also speaks about our faith and love that comes from God whom we must serve in the Holy Spirit Paul gives Thanks to God for our Faith and Love Romans 1:8 (ESV Strong’s) 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. Paul asRead More

Introduction How many times have you heard someone saying that the Bible doesn’t make sense, or there are contradictions in the Bible or why should we believe a book written 2000 years ago. I don’t know about you but I hear this all the time. There seems to be a clear inability by most people to understand the Bible. In this message, I will show that their inability is directly linked to their lack of repentance. They need to repent. I will show using scripture that without repentance, no one will be able to come to understand or comprehend the truth that is found within the pages of scripture. The World System on Repentance. The world system has convinced people throughout the world into thinking that one first has to understand and accept what the Bible says and thereafter, they will be able to repent. There world system says we must prove to the people that the Bible is true and then they will be able to repent. We must give as much evidence to people as possible and they will repent. Is this true? Can we blame the lack of repentance among people to the lack of evidence thatRead More

Introduction In the last post we saw how Paul in verses 1-4, brilliantly argued how and why the Gospel has authority and why it is true. We also saw why he has the authority to preach the gospel. In this post we will see why and how Paul was chosen to be an apostle, what was the goal of preaching the gospel and what was the extent of his calling. Why Paul? (ESV Strong’s) 5(a) through whom we have received grace and apostleship This verse continues from verses 3-4 where Paul described who Jesus is. Paul described that Jesus was born from the line of David, which puts Him in line for the throne, and therefore a king. He described Jesus as the Son of God and declared as such when He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul also described Jesus as our Lord. Paul now in verse 5(a) says that it is through this same Jesus Who is a King, a Son of God and our Lord, that they have received grace and apostleship. Please note the order, it was first grace from God then apostleship. In other words, Paul was chosen,Read More

Introduction The letter to the Romans was written by Paul about the year A.D. 57. Write at the beginning of the letter, He introduces himself as Paul and gives us his credentials of who he is and what gives him the authority to preach the gospel. He then goes on to show that the gospel is authoritative and true. Paul’s Credentials Romans 1:1 (ESV Strong’s) 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, Paul starts by saying that he is a servant of Christ Jesus. That is, he is the servant of the Messiah whose name is Jesus. I am only mentioning the Messiah to ensure that we understand that Christ is not Jesus’s surname but, His title. The Greek word translated here as slave, is the word “doulos” which means (Gk-EnLex_NT) to being under someone’s total control. Paul is therefore telling us that he is under the total control of Jesus. It is Jesus who directs his every word and his every act. He is operating fully under the will of Jesus. Secondly, Paul tells us that he was called to be an apostle. To be called hereRead More

Unmasking False Teachers or False Preachers Introduction We live in a world currently were false teachers and false preachers are the face of Christianity. They have infiltrated the church and they have, as it appears, taken over what is Christianity. All over our country, all over our television and all over social media, one can see the influence of these false teachers and false preachers on the people. In this message, we will look at the book of Jude and 2 Peter 2, both of which will help us in understanding who the false teachers and false preachers are. Out of the book of Jude and 2 Peter 2, we will see four things that I will be discussing in this message: (1) The doctrine of false teachers and false preachers (2) The Behaviour of false teachers and false preachers (3) The Character of false teachers and false preachers and (4) God’s Impending Judgement of false teachers and false preachers. The intention of this message is to help each one of us, unmask false teachers and false preachers. This message must give us the ability to differentiate between false teachers and false preachers, and true ones. The Doctrine of false teachers and false preachers The word doctrineRead More

Dangerous Desire to be Rich How dangerous is it for us to pursue the desire to be rich? This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube Watch the Video below: Another False preacher message you might want to read, click here False Preacher – 1 Timothy 6:3-5 RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

Introduction Peter’s sermon after he received the Holy Spirit, validates for all of us that Jesus is really who he said He was. Jesus having suffered, died and rose from the death, Peter puts it all together to proof that Jesus’s death and resurrection was not only God’s plan but, it was God’s way of validating Jesus as both Lord and Messiah. We will see how Peter uses scripture to prove his point that Jesus is Lord, Jesus is the Christ. We will also see the response of those that were listening to Peter’s very first sermon. You killed the Messiah/ Christ – Peter’s indictment on the Jews (Vs 22-23) Acts 2:22-41 (ESV Strong’s)22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God Validates Jesus as the Messiah/ Christ Peter starts his sermon with an indication of to whom he is addressing his words. It is cleat that theRead More

“Is ancestral belief and/or worship contrary to or complementary to Christian belief? “ Introduction Most of you will know that I attended a funeral this weekend because of the message I sent previously. Attending this funeral has also made me realize that we are mostly dealing, especially among the black community, with those who call themselves “Christians”, those who confess Jesus to be Lord of their lives but, who also worship or believe in ancestors. In this message, I want to answer the question of whether ancestral belief and/or ancestral worship is contrary to or complementary to Christian belief or God’s Law (Commandments)? What is ancestral belief and/or ancestral worship? For those of you who might not understand what ancestral belief or worship is all about, in summary, it is a belief that the dead, although dead, can still have a certain amount of influence in the lives of the living. They need to be appeased through different forms of ceremonies and sacrifices. They can still interact with the living through dreams and sometimes in person. This means the dead, although dead, they are now living is some other form somewhere, and they have control over how things take placeRead More

Introduction I was born in a family that religiously used sangomas, ancestors and traditional doctors. My father and my grandfather on my mother’s side, were both sangomas or traditional doctors. At some point in my life I wanted to become one as well. My whole family practiced this part of our culture religiously. I am sure this part of my life represents a situation that quite a number of black people grew up in and still live in. We relied on sangomas, ancestors and traditional doctors for every part of our daily lives. Our reliance was most especially on ancestors. We thanked them for when things were going well and we appealed to them when things were not going well. We spoke to them, sacrificed to them and cut our bodies for them. Sangomas and traditional doctors were simply vessels that connected us to our ancestors. Who are sangomas, ancestors and traditional doctors? There are a number of verses especially in the Old Testament that deal with the topic of sangomas and traditional doctors. Obviously the Bible does not call them using those words but rather uses words like mediums and necromancers. Mediums are those people who consult the spiritRead More

Introduction Despite hardships, the gospel of Christ was spread throughout by the apostles that were commissioned by Jesus. This gospel was not always received the same way by all. Some embraced it and some rejected it even to the point of persecuting those that were spreading it. In this passage below, we will see how Paul speaks directly to this issue of the same gospel being a smell of death to those that reject it (the perishing) and smell of life to those who are being saved. Paul concludes this passage by referring to false preachers who used the gospel to enrich themselves. 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 (ESV Strong’s) Preaching of the Gospel hindered by Paul’s Great Concern for His Brother 12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. Paul came to Troas to come and preach the gospel but when he got there, his spirit was not at rest. The reason being that he did not find hisRead More

The Reading and Preaching of God’s Word The setting of this passage happens after God allowed the Israelites to return from captivity in Babylon. This takes place after the Jerusalem wall was finished. We pick up the story in Nehemiah chapter 8. I have divided the message into four sub headings with the main heading being the reading of God’s Word and the preaching of God’s Word: The Request (Verses 1-2) The Method of Reading (Verses 3-5) The Actual Process followed (Verses 7-8) The People’s Response (Verses 6 and 9-12) The Request (Verses 1-2) In verses 1-2, we see the Israelites requesting Ezra to bring the book of the Law of Moses, and more specifically, the one that the Almighty God commanded Israel. Ezra brought the book and placed it in front of all the people who could understand. Those that had the ability to comprehend what was about to be read. The Method of the Reading of God’s Word (Verses 3-5) We see the following in verses 3-5, that: Ezra opened the book of the Law of Moses, and read from it, from early morning to midday. This is 5 to 6 hours! He read in the presence ofRead More

How we must respond to God’s revelation of Himself to Us God has revealed Himself to us in nature and in His written word, the Bible. Each time that we read the Bible, we read about God’s revelation of Himself to us. We get to know about God’s Holiness, who He is and what He expects from us. As important as knowing who God is, it is equally important to know how we must respond to God’s revelation of Himself to us, and how we must respond to His Holiness. Our sinfulness shines brighter when we realise how Holy God is. God revealed Himself to Isaiah, Isaiah saw God’s Holiness and Isaiah’s response to this revelation, is a great lesson to us that I want us to look at. How did Isaiah respond to God’s revelation of Himself to him? Isaiah 6:1-8 (ESV Strong’s) The vision of God 1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet,Read More

Below is an audio file and video file of the sermon False Preacher – 1 Timothy 6:3-5: The Audio File The Video File RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

Human beings have for a long time been seeking for true happiness. Philosophers have tried to define what true happiness is but that didn’t and still does not help people to find true lasting happiness. People have gone to see psychiatrists, psychologists, sangomas, palm readers, people who read stars and all sorts of other people to try and find happiness but, true lasting happiness has eluded them each time. Many have shown that money does not buy true lasting happiness. Knowing all of this, where and how then do we find true lasting happiness? What do you do if you want your car to perform at its best all the time without fail? Obviously, you drive and maintain it according to the specifications in the manufacturers manual. You do what the manufacturer says, and the car will perform. Likewise, the only way human beings can be truly happy with lasting happiness, is to go back to their manufacturer and follow the specifications laid out in His manual. Who is the manufacturer? God is the manufacturer and His manual is the Bible. The Bible gives every human being clear guidelines on how to be truly happy. Let’s look at what theRead More

God cannot lie and God is faithful and He can be trusted completely. Unlike us human beings, when God makes a promise, He actually keeps it. In this message, we will look at a promise that God has made to only a specific group of people, those that love Him. What does it mean to love God? According to 1 John 5:3, to love God means to obey His commandments. 1 John 5:3 (ESV Strong’s) 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. Jesus said these words: Matthew 22:37 (ESV Strong’s) 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This therefore means that we must obey God with all of what we are. Those who do this, it is to them this promise is made. Meaning that those who don’t love God because they don’t obey Him, they cannot claim this promise for themselves. So, what is this promise then? We find it in Romans 8:28: Romans 8:28 (ESV Strong’s) 28 And we know that for those who love GodRead More

Worldly Wisdom or Intelligence. Part 1 I want us to look at a new series were we look at worldly wisdom or intelligence. What do I mean by worldly wisdom, I mean wisdom that comes from people, from books, from education, etc. All the wisdom or intelligence that this world can give a human being. I am talking about science, philosophy, psychology, medicine, engineering, and so on. That is what I refer to as worldly wisdom or intelligence. In short, man made wisdom or intelligence. Human beings over time have seemingly through man made wisdom, produced amazing things. I mean, we look at developments in the field of medicine. Humans seem to live longer because of the new discoveries we have made. Look at the new technologies we have discovered. Look at how lives have been improved because of new discoveries and all this seemingly because of man made wisdom. Human beings have come to rely altogether on man made wisdom for everything and anything and why not, it seems to be the answer to everything and anything. In this series, I want us to take a look at what the bible says about man made wisdom. From a ChristianRead More

The Institution of Marriage” Part 1 The Bible tells us that God is the author of marriage, and He gave us a manual of what marriage is, who must get married and how we should live as married people. The manual is the Bible. This manual, tells us that, marriage is between a man and a woman, and it is from this basis that I will be discussing. Since God is the author and He gave us a manual, the only way to be happy in a marriage, is to follow the manual. This is obvious is it not? Example, if you buy a car, and you operate it not according to the manual, you will not enjoy it because, it will break and give you all sorts of problems. Likewise, if you don’t follow God’s manual for marriage, you can expect all sorts of problems. What does the manual say? This is what we will be discussing in the next couple of messages. Let’s start with 1 Peter 3:1-7. Peter starts first by addressing a wife in the first six verses and in verse 7, in one verse, addresses the husband. Peter talks about three things with regards toRead More

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV Strong’s) 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. The above verse, just like Phillipians 4:13, is also one of those verses that are highly misused. Many prosperity preachers have quoted this verse to mean that God has a plan to make people prosper or be rich. One of the biggest causes of this misuse, or one of the biggest things that allow for this misuse is the way the New International Version (NIV) has translated this verse. The NIV is not wrong but, it has unintentionally contributed to people misusing this verse. This is why: Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. As you can see the NIV has translated the Hebrew word “shalom” as prosper. The misusers of this verse only saw this word “prosper”, took it out of context and declared that God wants everyone to be rich. According to the Hebrew Analytical Lexicon of the Old TestamentRead More

There are a number of verse in the Bible that people misinterpret and misuse. One can think of Jeremiah 29:11 whose misinterpretation and misuse is fueled by how the NIV translation has translated this verse: Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. We will discuss this verse in our next message but for now, Phillipians 4:13 falls among the most misinterpreted and misused verses. Here is the verse: Philippians 4:13 (ESV Strong’s) 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. All misinterpretations hang on a single Greek word “pas”, translated here as “all things”. All those who misinterpret and misuse this verse, do two things: They completely forget that there are 12 verses before this verse and there are 10 verses after it. It is as if Paul only wrote this verse in chapter 4. Why is this important? This is important because if you ignore all those other verses, you will completely take this verse out of its immediate context! Without the proper context, this verse can mean absolutely anythingRead More

“Is it biblical to divorce for any reason?” Part 1 The answer to this question is clearly found in Matthew 19:3-9. I have divided this passage into five parts: (1) The question (2) The Initial Reply (3) The Follow Up Question (4) The Second Reply and (5) The controversy (1) The question The Pharisees asked Jesus if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason? As a background to this question. In Jesus’s day, women were not allowed to divorce. That is why the question is related to if a man is allowed to divorce his wife for any reason. There were also two schools of thought in those days: The school of Shammai, who believed that divorce is only allowed if a woman was unfaithful. In other words, sexually immoral. The school of Hillel, believed that a man can divorce his wife for any reason. This is where the words “for any reason comes from in the question”. As for the word lawful, this refers to the Old Testament in general. In other words, they are asking Jesus to show them from the Old Testament, whether it is lawful for a man to divorceRead More

I have been in a number of churches where the word of God is read. In Some churches different books of the Bible are read e.g. they might read verses from psalms, numbers and one of the gospels in one service, while some might read verses from just one book. This is all well and good but, when the pastor stands up to preach, his preaching has nothing to do with what was read. I remember I once went to a Christmas Day service in one church and the Pastor preached about a Christmas tree, the whole preaching. In most other churches, the pastor will stand up and go directly into how what was read applies to the people instead of making sure that the people understand what the word said. In these churches, it is not important to understand the word itself. What is important is what the pastor says about the word. The concern I have with these churches is that, the congregation is left clueless as to what God is saying. They don’t even carry bibles to churches. The word of the Pastor takes more centre stage than the word of God. Ultimately, the Pastor takes allRead More

We have already seen that the scriptures makes it very clear that both repentance and faith are gifts from God. We have seen that no human being can ever, on their own, decide to repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ. According to the correct reading and interpretation of scripture, that is clearly not possible. Having said that, as I indicated in my previous message, there are those among Christians ( commonly referred to as Arminians), who say that although both repentance and faith are a gift from God, a human being still has the right to reject or accept the gift. In other words, although God must first give you this gift, the final say rests with A human being on whether to be saved or not. Is this true? According to Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, God chose believers from the beginning to be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NASB) 13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. The question is, when was this “beginning”? For that we read EphesiansRead More

This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWM5Eynpk6A RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVa7soUuduE RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmrfHJ3XONQ RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEjo_VoMAyg&t=231s RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZArqPviXlqM RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOy9KzurCbs&t=717s RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC38JNuMm2M RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-1X-Vj0hOQ RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

This is an audio file of the video sermon which you can find on You Tube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc2kXugQJGU RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

Righteous living, a sign of a born again Christian 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Word Study: The word “abide” means to remain or to stay. It is in the present imperative, meaning that it is a command. It is also important to know that there are two words in verse 29, “praticing” and “born” that must be understood properly for us to understand the verse. The words are both in a present tense and perfect tense respectively. In Greek the perfect tense refers to action that took place in the past whose results are continuing in the present. Comment: In verse 28 John refers to believers as little children indicating a sense of family. He commands themRead More

Don’t be deceived by the Anti-Christs 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. Comment: John now moves to a section that he mostly reserves for those that are trying to deceive us as indicated in verse 26. John calls these the antichrists. John says it is the last hour, which according to most commentaries, this refers to the last times or the last days. This is the time period between the 1st and the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. So, the last hour or last days started when Jesus came to the world. John says to his readers that they have heard that the antichrist is coming and then he says many antichrists have come. The final antichrist which refers to the final world ruler (Dan 8:9-11), is still coming. The one that John refersRead More

How a True Child of God deals with Opposition to the Truth 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. Word Study: The words “Have nothing to do with” is one word in the Greek which also means to avoid, to refuse, to reject. The word foolish simply means stupid. Ignorant means untrained or uneducated. Controversies refers to profitless disputes or debates. Breed means to give birth to and quarrels means conflict. Comment: Just from the word study one can already see what this verse is actually saying to us. A true child of God is able to identify stupid, untrained, uneducated and profitless debates, and avoid them. He avoids them because HE KNOWS that they only lead to conflict. The first characteristic is that of the ability to IDENTIFY AND AVOID stupid, uneducated and profitless debates. Message: This is an indictment to me and most of us who find ourselves having failed to identify these types of debates, and finding ourselves involved in stupid, uneducated and profitless debates. An example of these kinds of debates are those based on speculation and subtle questions that do not relate to or tries to undermineRead More

Do not Love the World 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. Word Study: The word “world”, “kosmos” in Greek, here refers to the spiritual system of evil under the control of the devil. The word “desires”, the Greek word “epithymia” means in a bad sense, an unrestrained desire or longing or craving or lust for something forbidden. Comment: John gives us a very clear command not to love the world or the things of the world, meaning not to love the spiritual system of evil under the control of the devil, and not to even love what it offers. John says if anyone loves the world, then the love of the Father is not in Him. Proof that the love of the Father is not in us, it isRead More

Growth in the Lord comes with Increased Knowledge of Scripture 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Comment: Verses 12-14 describes what I believe to be three stages in a Christian’s life. John describes these stages as little children, young men and fathers. John describes these three stages in two stages. The first stage is characterized by the words “I am writing”,which is in the present indicative active, and the second with the words “I write”, which is in the aorist indicative active. This simply means that the first one is in the present tense and the second is in the past tense. It’s more like “I am writing” andRead More

The love test 7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Comment: The love test is what I call the next test that John gives us. In this message, John tells us that we cannot hate a brother or sister and claim to be walking in the light. John starts verse 7 by saying that he is not writing a new commandment but rather an old one. John tells us that the old commandments is found in theRead More

Christ Our Advocate 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Word Study: The Greek word translated as “advocate”, is “parakletos” which has a basic meaning of one called alongside to help. It refers to one who gives protection, security. One who pleads a case on behalf of others. Propitiation, “hilasmos” refers to a means of forgiveness or means by which sins are forgiven. Comment: I am so grateful that John decided to start chapter 2 and the rest of the book with this verse, referring to verse 1. Without verse 1 of chapter 2, I would be pulling out my hair knowing that I can never ever be a true Christian, since I would never qualify. It might not make sense to you now, why I say this but later on, it will. Keep reading. John begins chapter 2 verse 1 with the most comforting and assuring statement in his book. JohnRead More

1 John 5:13 (ESV Strong’s) 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. Word Study: Eternal life according to John 17 is: John 17:3 (ESV Strong’s) 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Comment: John’s main reason for writing this epistle is so that those who believe in the name of the Son of God, may know that they have eternal life. This is a letter of assurance to Christians, who can use this letter to assure themselves of their place in heaven. When I ask most people whether they know if they would be in heaven when they die, they answer I always get is that only God knows, but I tell you today, after we have gone through this epistle, you will know 100% whether you will be in heaven or hell. This as John says in 1 John 1:4, will complete your joy. John has a series of tests in this epistle or letter that are intended to allow you to test yourself. I hopeRead More

The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed Paul’s Stewardship of God’s grace Comment: Chapter 3 of Ephesians that we are about to study can really be titled “God’s Mystery Revealed”. Paul takes us through how God revealed the mystery, how he was used by God, the reason for the revelation and then ends the chapter with a prayer. 1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, Word Study: “For this reason” at the beginning of verse 1, can either refer to what Paul has discussed since chapter 2:11-22 or even what Paul discussed since the beginning of the chapter. Now, since the mystery that Paul discusses, is the mystery regarding gentiles, it makes more sense for “For this reason”, to refer to all that Paul discussed since chapter 2:11-22, because the beginning of the passage refers to gentiles as well. The word “Assuming” means “I take it that”. “Stewardship” means “administration or dispensation”. To dispense means to distribute or supply. Comment: Paul indicates to the Ephesians that he is a prisoner meaning that heRead More

Jesus’s birth and the Events surrounding His birth, was in fulfilment of prophecies 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Comment: The wise men came and worshipped and now they had left. After they had left, an angel came to warn Joseph in a dream that Herod was about to search for Jesus to kill Him. He must then take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt and remain there until the death of Herod. Joseph did exactly what he was told by the angel. This was one again a fulfilment of an old testament prophecy by Hosea and found in Hosea 11:1. Matthew is still on a quest to show toRead More

The Wise Men and King Herod 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Comment: Now when Matthews says ” Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king“, the word “after” includes all that Luke told us in Luke 2:1-42. The wise men also called the “magi” were from Persia or Arabia. In Daniel 2:47, the magi consisted of enchanters, magicians and astrologers. These are the people over whom Daniel was placed in charge according to Daniel 2:48. Obviously, these wise men who are mentioned here are the descendants of those of the time of Daniel. Matthew tells that these wise men, who came from the east, came to Jerusalem during the days of Herod the King after Jesus was born. Please note that Matthew never says that there were three wise men as we all have been made to believe. Matthew never tells us how manyRead More

The Birth of Jesus and the Shepherds visit Comment: Matthew’s intention in writing this gospel and specifically the portion we are dealing with, which is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, was to show the Jews from the Old testament that Jesus is indeed the messiah that the prophets prophesied about. That Jesus is indeed the Christ and the Son of God. For a Jew (and it should also be for us), the Old Testament is cast in stone, it is from God and every word is true and should be obeyed. Matthew knew that if he used the very Old Testament to prove to the Jews that, Jesus was indeed the Christ and the Son of God, they will accept Him as such. It is important to note that Matthew could do this because Jews accepted scripture to be the word of God and authoritative and without error or contradiction. Message: If you will not accept scripture as the very word of God, literal and authoritative, then how can you accept and acknowledge God? 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Comment: As I indicated in my introRead More

The Gospel of John, An eye witness account 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.)Read More

Jesus the Provider 1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Word Study: The sea of Tiberius is also called the sea of Galilee (John 6:1) Comment: Verse 1 indicates to us that these disciples Simon, Thomas, The sons of Zebedee (John and James Math 4:21), Nathaniel and two other unnamed disciples, had gone back to Galilee, since Jesus revealed Himself to them at the sea of Galilee. Peter, as was his work before Jesus met him, decided to go fishing and the others decided to join him. John tells us that night, they caught nothing. John also tells us that just as the day was breaking, inRead More

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed 24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Word Study: The word never in verse 25 is the Greek word “ou me” which is a double negative emphasizing the negative part. Comment: When Jesus appeared to His disciples forRead More

Jesus Appears to the Disciples 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Comment: Again we see the first day being mentioned. The first day became the day that the early church started to meet in and that’s why even today we also meet on Sunday. John tells us that the doors were locked where the disciples were meeting because they feared the jews. While they were there, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them peace be with you.Read More

Status of Gentiles after Christ’s death on the cross 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Comment: Having created peace between Jews and Gentiles, having created one new man instead of two, and having reconciled us both to God through the cross and having provided us both access in one Spirit to God the Father, Gentiles can no longer be of the same state that they were before Jesus died on the cross. Now, Gentiles are no longer strangers and aliens to the commonwealth of Israel and the covenants of promise. Now Gentiles are part of the commonwealth, they are now citizens together with the other saints (Jews that received Jesus) and are now members of the household of God. Through Jesus’s death on the cross, Gentiles have become part of God’s family, part of His household. The Household of God 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being builtRead More

The First Eye Witness of the Resurrected Jesus Christ. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Word Study: Stooping means leaning over Comment: Mary who was weeping outside the tomb, leaned over to look into the tomb, she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus laid. One at the head and one at the feet. This relates to the how the angels stood on each side of the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant. Exodus 25:17-22 tells us about this mercy seat: Exodus 25:17-22 (ESV Strong’s) 17 “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall youRead More

One in Christ Status of Gentiles before Christ 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Word Study: A Gentile is a word that refers to all non Jewish people Comment: I remember that I once gave a sermon at a church youth group and after I finished, one of the ladies said to me that she feels that when the bible speaks of a Jew, she is also included in it because she feels she was also a Jew. She could not accept that the old covenant was between God and the Jews and she was not as a gentile part of that. I remember quoting the above passage to show her what her status was before Jesus died for us. In verses 11-12 above, Paul indicates clearly where we as gentiles stood before the cross. Gentiles were called “the uncircumcised” by the Jews GentlesRead More

With so many Witnesses, how can we still doubt the Resurrection of Jesus! 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. Word Study: Stopping means leaning over Comment: According to Luke 24:9-11, when the women told the disciples what they had seen, they did not believe them. Hence Peter and John ran to the tomb to see what has happened. Again, another proof that even theRead More

Jesus Christ our Lord has risen indeed! Comment: Jesus has now been crucified and buried. That was on a Friday, the day before the sabbath day. John’s account of the resurrection is very difficult to harmonize with the other Gospels. I’m not going to go through this in this sermon but just to make note. 1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Comment: The first day of the week here is Sunday, meaning that Jesus had been in the grave or dead for three days. We read that it was early and still dark, meaning that it was very early in the morning on Sunday. John tells us that Mary and specifies that it was Mary Magdalene, John tells us that Mary came to the tomb very early Sunday morning and we knowRead More

Thanks and Glory Goes to God for our Salvation 15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, Word Study: Wisdom, greek word “sophia” which means intelligence, understanding. Comment: Paul here tells the Ephesians saints mentioned in verse 1 that, he does not cease to give thanks for them and he remembers them in his prayers, meaning that he always prays for them. Why, why does Paul give thanks for these saints and why does he always pray for them? Because He has heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love towards all the saints. The Ephesian saints love for Jesus and fellow saints excited Paul, made Paul so happy that he went on to give thanks and pray for them. Why did this make Paul so happy? In my opinion, it is because this indicated that they were truly Christians,Read More

In Jesus we have an inheritance 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. Word Study: The word counsel in greek is the word “boule” which means an inward thought process leading towards a decision or a result based on an inner deliberation. Comment: In Him, Jesus Christ, we have obtained an inheritance. What is this inheritance, eternal life. Another spiritual blessing that God has blessed us with in Jesus. Peter says it is an inheritance which is imperishable and unfading which is kept for us in heaven. This inheritance we are receiving through Jesus Christ. Paul, continues to say God having decided beforehand based on an inward deliberation, inward thought process that led to His will, He chose the Jews to be first to hope in Jesus so that through them, He might be glorified. Again, Paul highlights that the choosing of the Jews to be the first ones to hope in Christ was based solely on an inwardRead More

Redeemed by the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, Word Study: Redemption, greek word “apolytrosis” which means literally an action of buying back of a slave or captive through payment of a ransom. Figuratively it means to rescue from sin. Trespass, greek word “paraptoma” which means a deviation from living according to what has been revealed as the right way to live, a false step, basic meaning is to fall down. Lavished, greek word “perisseuo” which means to be superabundant, to provide superabundantly, excessive. Comment: Another spiritual blessing that we have received from God in Jesus Christ is the redemption through His blood. When Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood, He was literally paying a ransom for us. Romans 6:16-20, indicates that we were once slaves to sin and Romans 6:22 specifically states that we have been set free from sin. This is exactly what Jesus did on the cross. We who were once slaves of sin were bought back through the payment of a ransom. We were rescued fromRead More

Adopted as Sons of God, Holy and Blameless. 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Word Study: The word “chose” in greek is the word “eklegonomai” which means to select, to choose from. This word is in the Aorist Middle voice. The Aorist Middle voice is where the subject, in this case God, acts somehow concerning Himself. So, the word in context means to select for Himself. Comment: The first blessing that Paul tells us is that we were chosen in Christ, when? before the foundation of the world, for what? To be holy and blameless before God. The world did not exists when God chose us. We did not exist when God chose us. Who is this “us”, this “us” are all the saints who are faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ as Paul indicated in verse 1. God made a decision to choose us before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless. It was God’s choice and God’s decision to chose us to be holy and blameless before Himself. This had nothing to do with us, itRead More

They Risked it All to Bury their Lord Jesus Christ 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. Comment: Joseph of Arimathea appears in all the gospels and only concerning the burial of Jesus Christ. We are told that he was a secret disciple of Jesus Christ, a member of the Jewish council who did not consent to the decision and action of the council regarding Jesus,Read More

Jesus’s Crucifixion and Death Fulfilled Scripture 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, Word Study: Garments here could mean all other clothes that Jesus had on Him except for the tunic. The tunic was an under garment that was worn inside next to the skin. By seamless, it means that the tunic was woven from top throughout as one garment. Comment: John tells us that the soldiers divided Jesus’s clothes into four parts. They could not divide his tunic because it was seamless and they thought it better to cast lots for it, to decide who it must belong to. According to commentaries I have read, it was apparently custom for the soldiers who perform the crucifixion to takeRead More

The Crucifixion So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. Comment: After Pilate delivered Jesus to the Chief Priest and the Jews to be crucified, they wasted no time in executing the crucifixion. Since these crucifixions were performed outside the city, Jesus was also taken outside the city to the place of skull or Golgotha. John tells us here that Jesus bore His own cross. It is important to note this because Jesus said in Luke 9:23 and Mat 16:24 that whoever wants to follow Him, must bear his own cross. Jesus here leads by an example as He bears His own cross. This is also a fulfilment of what took place in Gen 22:6 when Isaac who was going to be offered as a sacrifice was made to carry the same wood that was going to be used to burn him. Jesus likewise carried His own cross. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Comment: Like the bronze snake that Moses lifted up on a wooden pole inRead More

Spiritual Blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ – Part 1 ​1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Comment: The writer of Ephesians identifies himself as Paul, not just any Paul but, Paul who was an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. This gives us a clear indication of who the writer is. Paul then identified the targeted readers of this letter as the saints who are in Ephesus, hence the letter is named Ephesians. Paul is not writing to just any saints but, he is writing to the saints in Ephesus who are faithful in Christ Jesus. Paul send them a greeting and said grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Typical Paul’s greeting style. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, Word Study: Three words in the above verse 1) Blessed at the beginning of the verse in greekRead More

The Greater Sin is with those who reject Jesus 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. Comment: The jews made a statement that Jesus needed to die in verse 7 just above this one and verse 8 starts by indicating that when Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. This tells us that Pilate was indeed afraid and was even more afraid when he heard this statement. Why was Pilate afraid, well the only reason I could find was in Mat 27:19. There we see Pilate’s wife telling Pilate that he must have nothing to do with the righteous man, referring to Jesus. She told Pilate that she had suffered much that day in her dream because of Jesus. This is what could have made him afraid and even more afraid when the jews wanted Jesus dead. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Comment: As indicated in verse 7’s comments above, Pilate was afraid because of what his wife told him and the fact the jews wanted Jesus dead. Coupled with the fact that Jesus told him in John 18:37-38, thatRead More

Jesus the innocent pronounced Not Guilty for the second time 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” Comment: We know from reading other gospels that the jews would not enter the courtyard of Pilate who was a gentile since they did not want to defile themselves for passover. It was a believe among the jews that entering a place of a gentile is to defile oneself. It is therefore Pilate who had to come out and meet them. Hence verse 4 above says that Pilate went out again. The verse says again because Pilate had already come out once in chapter 18:38 to tell them that he finds Jesus not guilty. So, he was coming out again and this time to present the heavily and severely beaten Jesus to the jews with the hope that they will feel sympathy and release Him. How do I know this? This is from reading other gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke and even verse 12 of the current chapter confirms this. Pilate told them once again that he is bringing Jesus outRead More

Jesus the innocent, flogged and mocked ​1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Word Study: The word translated as “flogged” in the above verse 1, also means severe punishment. Comment: Verse 1 starts with the word “then”, meaning that it builds up from the previous verse or verses. In chapter 18:38-40, Pilate told the jews that he finds Jesus not guilty and asked them if they would release Barnabas who was arrested during the insurrection and for murder as well, or if they would release Jesus. This was based on their custom to release one prisoner during passover. The Jews chose Barnabas. This concluded chapter 18 and then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. This was a very severe beating by multiple soldiers who took turns when exhausted. The victim was stripped, tied to a post and beaten by several torturers. The preferred instrument for beating was a short wooden handle to which several leather thongs were attached.Read More

1 Timothy 6:2b-5 (ESV Strong’s) A command to Timothy from Paul to teach the truth 2 ……Teach and urge these things. Comment: I have started with the second part of verse 2 as it links with verse 3-6 below, which is our passage for this sermon. Paul commands Timothy to teach and urge these things. What things?, by these things, Paul refers to all he has taught since chapter 1. In chapter 1, Paul started with a proper understanding of the law of God, with a proper understanding of the gospel, the saving gospel, with a proper understanding of the majesty of God in verse 17. It goes back to chapter 2 where Paul instructed about evangelistic praying, praying for the lost. It goes back to chapter 2 verses 9 to 15, the instruction on the role of a woman in the order of the church, chapter 3, principles to characterize church leaders and church deacons. Chapter 4, you have there statements regarding false doctrine and then you have the model of an effective ministry given, principles for proper ministry. Chapter 5 deals with how to treat older men and how to treat older women, particularly widows. And then howRead More

Romans 3:9-20 (ESV Strong’s) 9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, Word Study: The greek word translated here as “charged” means “previously proved” Comment: Paul starts here in this verse by saying that they have already proven that all, both Jews and Greek, are under sin. This is indeed true because from Chapter 1:18 to the end of chapter 1, Paul shows the sinfulness of the gentiles or non jews, represented here by the Greeks. Then from Chapter 2:1 to Chapter 3:8, Paul shows the sinfulness of the Jews. After proving this, he then says that the Jews are no better off since everyone has sinned. Paul has now come to a point where he has now successfully proven that it does not matter who you are, we are all sinners. Message: This is in line with what John said in his epistle that whoever says he has no sin is a liar and whoever says that he has not sinned, he makes God a liar. Comment: Now in the following verses, Paul describes the character of a sinner andRead More

Genesis 2:16-17 (ESV Strong’s) 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Comment: After God created Adam and Eve, He gave them a commandment to eat of every tree of the garden except one tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told them that they would surely die if they had eaten it. They had all the trees to eat from and only one was forbidden and it was for their own good. This was the very first commandment that God gave to human beings. This is equally the very first commandment of God that the devil distorted and added to through Eve. This set a precedence which is followed even today by those that are of the devil. The bible which is the word of God is attacked, distorted and added to on a daily basis. Genesis 3:1-6 (ESV Strong’s) 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LordRead More

Comment: To be justified or to be declared righteous before God is a common goal in most religions. However, one of the major differences between Christianity and all other religions is that Christianity is faith based and all other religions are works based. What this means is that all other religions believe that one attains righteousness before God by what he does or does not do. The deeds of a person determines his standing before God. If you do good, you will be declared righteous but, if you do bad, you will be declared unrighteous. In this system, there is no guarantee of ever being declared righteous. So, they say the more good things you do, the better your chances of being declared righteous. On the other hand reformed Christians believe that it is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ that a person is justified and it is not by works but, rather it is a gift from God. It says that the righteousness of Jesus is imputed or credited on one’s life by grace through faith. However, there are those among Christians who say that righteousness before God is by faith plus the good works eg. The RomanRead More

Comment: For this passage of scripture, that is for Jer 23:9-40, we will not follow the normal order of verses but rather, we will combine verses according to the message. Some verses will be combined with other verses that carry the same theme. Our responsibility against false prophets 16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. …….. Word Study: The word “listen” is translated from a word that means to pay attention. It has been used several times in the Old Testament and mostly used to mean not only to pay attention and hear but also to obey. The word “vain” means empty. Comment: God through Jeremiah warns us that we should not pay attention to what is being said by these false prophets and not only that but we should also not obey it. God also tells us that what ever hope these false prophets is giving us, it is empty hope. Message: Nothing has changed since the time of Jeremiah. We are still experiencing false prophets, priests, pastors, apostles, men of god, etc and these are still giving people false hopes.Read More

Comment: For this passage of scripture, that is for Jer 23:9-40, we will not follow the normal order of verses but rather, we will combine verses according to the message. Some verses will be combined with other verses that carry the same theme. Their Goal of false prophets 10 ……Their course is evil,…….. 14 ………they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; …………..27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Word Study: Comment: Having Discussed the presence of, the deeds of and the lack of mandate of false priests and prophets, having also understood their extend, Let us now look at their goal. What do these false prophets want to achieve. God through Jeremiah gives us 3 goals that these false prophets and priests have. Firstly, in verse 10, Jeremiah says that their goal is evil. They want to bring evil in people’s hearts. They want to spread evil through the world. They want to teach evil. Secondly, Jeremiah says that their goal is to ensure that no one turns from evil by strengthening theRead More

Saved by Grace Through Faith – Ephesians 2 vs 8, 9, 10 it is not our own doing (not self-effort). but a gift from God. RECEIVE POSTS AND NEWSLETTERS I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information ) Nehemiah 8:8 They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. (NLT) We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. Like this:Like Loading...Read More

Comment: For this passage of scripture, that is for Jer 23:9-40, we will not follow the normal order of verses but rather, we will combine verses according to the message. Some verses will be combined with other verses that carry the same theme. The Presence of False Prophets and their Extent. 9 Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the Lord and because of his holy words.10 For the land is full of adulterers; …………….. 11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the Lord. Comment: Jeremiah indicates in verse 9 above that he is very scared. He is so scared, he looks like a drunken man and his bones shake. Jeremiah is frightened because of God and His holy words. Why? It is because Jeremiah tells us that the land is full of adulterers and what God has spoken regarding these, scares him. Ezekiel 23:37 and other verses like it, tells us that being unfaithful to God by worshipping other idols and breaking God’s law, is to commit spiritual adultery.Read More

Comment: We live in a world where sin is now acceptable to a level that intolerance towards sin is not acceptable. We live in a world where preachers only preach to fill up the church with numbers. The goal of preaching these days is to preach anything and everything as long as it brings numbers to church and in turn increases revenue. We are living in a world that Paul prophesied in 2 Timothy 4 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. People no longer want to hear that they are sinners and need to repent. To quote John MacAthur from his book called Ashamed of the Gospel “(Ashamed of the Gospel) Look again at the key phrase in verse 3: “wanting to have their ears tickled.” Why won’t they endure sound doctrine? Why do they heap to themselves teachers? Why do they turn away from the truth? Because down deep inside they simply want to have theirRead More

The Word of God According to God The Word of God, what does God think about His word? What effect does the Word of God have on God’s people? The current world we a are living in, unlike the past, has little or no regard to the word of God and it is getting worse by the day. To most, the word of God as contained in the Bible, is just but another book. God however sees His word quite different from how we see it. The word of God is under attack, is being questioned and others simply reject it. We will however see in this message what God actually thinks about His own word that He has given us, and how He uses it among His own people. The Word of God is Perfect and Sure 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; Word Study: The word “Law” refers to God’s Instructions or Teachings. The word “perfect” means without blemish and, comes from a Heb word which means to complete. Therefore, the word “perfect” means complete and without blemish (a small mark or flaw that spoils the appearance). The word means to return, re-establish,Read More

1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again…… Comment: We hear all the time that our lifestyle is the fruits that will indicate whether we are truly saved or not. Verses like 1 John 2:29 which says that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of God, 1 John 3:9, no one born of God makes a practice of sinning, 1 John 4:7, anyone who believes that Jesus is Christ has been born of God, etc. all these verses and many others, seem to give assurance that if our lifestyle reflects certain qualities, we have been born of God and therefore saved. The verse 1 Peter 1:3, which is our passage for this message says that God has caused us to be born again. What does all this mean. What does it mean we are born again? What did Jesus mean when He told Nicodemus that unless we are born again we will not enter the kingdom of God. I hope to answer this question in this message. God gives us New Birth Word Study: The wordsRead More

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Word Study: The word “deliberately” comes from a greek word which means voluntary, willful and intentional. The word “knowledge” comes from a greek word and it means to have full knowledge. It means to have intensive moral and religious knowledge. In a sense, it means to lack nothing when it comes to knowledge. Message: The above passage starts by saying “if we go on sinning deliberately” and it means to continuously and intentionally sin. This is not an accidental spur of the moment sinning but, it is an intentionally well thought continuous sin. This refers to an intentional, voluntary, willful and continuous unbroken pattern of sin. The passage continues to say if we continue to intentionally sin “after receiving the knowledge of truth” and as indicated above, the greek word used here for knowledge means full and complete knowledge. Therefore this passage refers to a person who has received all and complete information or knowledge regarding salvation through Jesus, andRead More

Warning Against Deliberately Not Maturing Characteristics of An Apostate (A person who deliberately rejects Jesus despite having no excuse to do so) 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, Word Study: To be enlightened, it is to be given knowledge or information. Background: In Hebrews 5:9, the writer of hebrews indicated to the Hebrews that Jesus is the source of salvation. These Hebrews that the writer is writing to, are Jewish people who either have not yet accepted Jesus and have not let go of the old Jewish beliefs. This is the reason the writer of Hebrews is telling them that Jesus is the only source of salvation. In verse 11 of the same chapter, the writer of hebrews told them that they have become dull of hearing, meaning that because they have heard the gospel of Jesus so many times and still reject it, they no longerRead More

Comment: In John 3:3, Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a man is born again, he will not see the kingdom of God. Now, the word “again” comes from a greek word “anothen” which means “from above.” This means what Jesus was saying was that, unless a man is born from above, he will not enter the kingdom of God. Now, to be born from above means to be born of God. So, in other words, unless God Himself gives birth to you, you will not enter heaven. So, how do I know if God has given birth to me? How do I know if I am born of God? The answer lies in the passage below. There are two tests in the passage below that when passed, indicate that a person is truly born of God. ​Being Born of God 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. Word Study: After careful study of the Greek verbs used in the above verse. This is how the verse looks like when properly translated from greek: Everyone who continues to believe that JesusRead More

Babies Instead of Mature Christians 11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Word Study: The word “dull” means to be lazy and in the context means to be slow to understand. The word “Oracles” means a saying or message originating from God and received as a direct revelation. The word “Unskilled” means to be inexperienced or ignorant, that is, without knowledge. The word “Mature” means to be complete or of full age or fully grown. Message: Verse 11 starts with the words “About this” and this refers to the fact that Jesus is the eternal source of salvation and a High Priest appointed by God as indicated in verses 9-10Read More

Jesus’s Prayers Heard because of His Reverence 7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Word Study: The word “reverence” means Godly Fear. The fear of disobeying God. The word “supplication” means a submissive request Related Verses:Psa 22:1-2; Mat 27:46,50 Message:“In the days of the flesh” means while Jesus was still on earth in a human form. We are told by the writer of Hebrews that, while Jesus was still on earth, He offered prayers and submissive requests with loud cries and tears. We can remember when Jesus was in the garden praying and also while he was on the cross. Both times, the bible tells us that He prayed with loud cries and tears. The writer also tells us that Jesus offered prayers and requests to the one who was able to save Him from the death. It was God who raised Jesus from death. Therefore, Jesus was correct in offering prayer to no one else except God and His prayer and request was answered since indeed He was raised fromRead More

2 Corinthians 3:14-15 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. Comment: The passage 2 Cor 4:1-7, which we are dealing with below, is in response to 2 Cor 3:14-15 shown above, which shows that the ministry of the new covenant was rejected by the Jews. Paul explains why despite this continuous rejection, He still continues to preach the gospel without loosing heart. 2 Corinthians 4:1-7 (ESV Strong’s Bible) We don’t give up Despite the Gospel Rejection ​1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. Message: Paul indicates that he has received this ministry of the new covenant, of preaching the gospel, by the mercies of God. He refers to God’s mercy because as you would know, Paul was not always a man of God and was, by his own admission, a chief sinner who persecuted Christians. Therefore it is only by God’s mercy that he now finds himself a Christian and saved fromRead More

The Birth of Jesus Christ Registration order is issued ​ 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. Word Study: The word decree is translated from a greek word “δογμα“, read in english as “dogma” which means a command or law. Augustus Caesar was born in 63BC and was adopted by his uncle Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar also made him heir to his throne. After Julius Caesar was murdered, Augustus defeated Antony at a battle in Actium and became the first Emperor of Rome around 2 September 31BC. He reigned until AD14. Comment: The registrations were useful for tax purposes. Message: Luke here is informing us about an order that was issued by Augustus for all the world to be registered. All the world here refers to all those that were under roman rule. As we will see below that the significance of this order led to our Lord Jesus to be born in Betlehem in Judea. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Comment: According to Josephus (Josephus (37-100 AD) was an important Jewish historian of the first century C.E. As such his worksRead More

Comment: After hearing from the angel Gabriel that Elisabeth was pregnant with John, Mary went to visit Elisabeth her relative. On arrival, Elisabeth greeted here with a song of praise and below is Mary’s own song of praise in responce to Elisabeth. 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, Word Study: “magnifies” translated from a greek word “megalyno” means to declare as great, to recognize the greatness of someone’s name, to praise, highly honor. Related Verse(s): Mary’s praise resembles some old testament scriptures like Hanna’s prayer in 1 Sam 2:1-10, Psa 34:2-3, Psa 69:30 and others. All these verses show that this is common way of giving praise and thanks to God. Message: Mary recognizes the greatness of God, His praise worthiness and how highly honored He is. 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, Related Verse(s): Same as Psa 35:9, Isa 61:10, Hab 3:18 all of which refer to rejoicing in God’s salvation. Message: Mary rejoices in the fact that salvation has arrived and God has send a savior for His people. His name Jesus Christ. Mary recognizes that it is God who actually does the saving and He is doing it through Jesus Christ.Read More

Luke 1:39-45 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. After Gabriel the Angel left Mary, she without a waste of time hurried to meet Elizabeth at her house, in a town called Judah. Although not stated, I beleive that the reason was that Mary had just heard from the Angel that her relative who was much elderly was six months pregnant. This might be because she wanted to go and help or she wanted to see for herself the miracle that God had done to Elizabeth who was barren. We can rule out that she wanted to see if the Angel was telling the truth because of what Elizabeth says in verse 45 below that, she believed what the Angel said. Therefore it is more likely that she wanted to see the miracle that God had done. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, According to verse 15 of this same chapter, it is stated by the AngelRead More

In our last message we learned that while Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John the Baptist, Gabriel, an angel of God, came to Mary and informed her that she will give birth to a son through the Holy Spirit and She must name her Jesus. What we also learnt is that: 1) Mary was still a virgin at the time of Gabriel’s visit 2) Mary was legally married 3) Joseph comes from a line of Kings. 4) Mary did not do anything to deserve being a mother of Jesus, it was simply God’s grace bestowed upon her. 5) Mary is not a source of grace but a recipient of God’s grace 6) Mary was to name our Lord, Jesus. Let’s now continue with the second part of our message on the birth of Jesus Christ. Luke 1:32-38 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Verse 31 ends with Gabriel telling Mary that she mustRead More

Luke 1:26-31 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. “In the sixth month” refers to the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist as indicated in verse 36 below. Gabriel means “Man of God” and is the name of the angel commissioned to explain to Daniel the vision of the ram and the he-goat, and to give the prediction of the 70 weeks (Dan. 8:16; 9:21). In the NT he is the angel of the annunciation to Zacharias of the birth of John the Baptist, and to Mary of the birth of Jesus (Lk 1:19,26). Though commonly spoken of as an archangel, he is not so called in Scripture. Therefore, in the sixt month, Gabriel, an angel was sent by God to Mary who was in Nazareth, in Galilee at the time. Mary at that time was still a virgin and engaged to Joseph. Now, this engagement was not like our engagements today. This was a type of an engagementRead More

John 18:28-40 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” After Jesus told Caiaphas and the Jewish council that He is indeed the Son of God and they will see Him seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven, they concluded that Jesus had committed blasphemy and therefore deserved to die. This means they had to approach Pilate as the roman governor at the time to get Him crucified. They indeed went to the governors headquarters but, could not enter themselves as they believed that entering a gentiles’s house would make them ceremonially unclean and could therefore not eat Passover. This is the reason why Pilate went outside to meet them. Pilate then asked them what Jesus is being charged with. 30 They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” 31 Pilate saidRead More

John 18:15-27 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. After Jesus was arrested, Peter followed Jesus as He was being taken to the high priest. Another disciple also followed with Peter and this disciple was known to the high priest. It is not clear who this disciple is but most people says it was John. I don’t know who he was. Since this disciple was known to the high priest, he organized that Peter be let into the courtyard. The servant girl who kept watch at the door opened for Peter and allowed him in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, andRead More

John 18:1-14 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ​1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Jesus has been with His disciples since chapter 13 in the upper room. This went on until chapter 16. In chapter 17, Jesus payed for Himself, His disciples and everyone else who was going to beleive through the disciples. When He finished praying, He then went out with His disciples across the brook Kidron where there was a garden. They entered this garden. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Judas knew about this garden since while he was still with Jesus, they used to meet at this garden. This I suppose is how he knew where to find Jesus. He led the soldiers and some officers from the chief priest and Pharisees to Jesus. These had with them lanterns, torches and weapons. I suppose all these soldiers andRead More

A drowning person does not negotiate the terms and conditions of being saved. All he hopes for especially when only a hand is now sticking out, is for someone to grab hold of that hand and pull him up. This person has reached a point of hopelessness, he has tried everything to save himself but has failed. He has realized he cannot save himself and all that awaits him, is death. If you look at the picture, this person is pretty much gone. He has given up. This person is not in a position to negotiate any terms and conditions but will accept any terms and conditions as long as they will lead to him being saved. This is exactly the position that we are all in with regards to sin. We are hopelessly drowning in our sin with no hope of ever being able to save ourselves. At this stage only a hand is sticking out and we hope that anyone can grab our hand and pull us out. We are in no position to negotiate any terms and conditions of being saved. All we can do is accept and sign any terms and conditions as long as weRead More

Matthew 7:1-5 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ​1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. We are dealing here with the most misused, misinterpreted and abused part of scripture. Those that do not want to face up to their sinful deeds that they do and/or continue to do, will always quote this passage of scripture as a means of avoiding being rebuked (to sharply criticize) and reproved (to show one his/her fault, to expose one’s fault). This is despite Paul saying in 2 Tim 4:2 that, we must preach the word, whether it is favorable or not. Paul says as we preach, we must rebuke, reprove and exhort with patience and gentleness. This is despite Matt 18:15 where Jesus tells us that if a brother sins, we must go and tell him his fault. In other words, reprove him. Paul says in Eph 5:11 that we should expose the unfruitful works of darkness. Again the word used for expose is the word “elegcho” in greek which means to reprove. These people confuse the Greek word “krino” which is translatedRead More

Luke 13:24-25 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ” 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, I do not know where you come from.’” From the Greek language, the word strive is a command to continue to make every effort and the word enter, is a word that means to enter once and for all. Therefore, to strive to enter means to continue to make every effort to enter once and for all through the narrow door which comes with obstacles, pain and discomfort. We know from Matt 7:13-14 that this door leads to eternal life. So, the temporary and earthly pain that we feel going through this door is nothing compared to the glory that we will recieve when Jesus comes. The choice of the use of the word to strive, alone should indicate that, it will not be easy to enter through this door and every effort is required. ThereRead More

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ” 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” In today’s message we are going to be talking about the wide gate and the wide path. Contrary to the command to enter the narrow gate given by our Lord to us, Jesus warns us about entering the wide gate and walking the wide path. Jesus warns that this wide gate and wide path leads only to destruction of the person entering and walking it. Jesus also tell us that contrary to very few finding the narrow gate and walking the narrow path, many will find the wide gate and walk the wide path. Let’s look at the verse in detail. I said in my previous message that the word narrow, in Greek, also means to groan, meaning discomfort or displeasure or pain. I said that it has a sense of walking against the natural inclination, meaning as an example, swimming against the currentRead More

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ” 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” The verses are part of the broader sermon that was given by Jesus at the mount. It is famously known as the “sermon at the mount” and starts in Chapter 5. Jesus after giving what is called the golden rule which is to do unto others that you would like them to do unto you, He now gives a message which in my view goes to the heart of Christianity. The free will that God has given us to choose or not to choose him. Jesus says that there are two gates. The narrow gate, which has a hard way and the wide gate, which has an easy way. Jesus says that many will find the wide gate and very few will find the narrow one. Jesus starts verse 13 by giving a command to us to enter by the narrow gate. Jesus saysRead More

If you saw my last message titled “Following and Supporting a False Teacher, is a sign of your own pending destruction in Hell”, you would have noticed that I said if you find yourself sitting in a church, following and supporting a church whose pastors promises you success, deliverance, breakthroughs, health, promotions, marriage, winning court cases, etc, and it is these very promises that attracted you to this church or this pastor, then this might be the sign to you that you are on your way to destruction in hell fire as that pastor you are following, might be a strong delusion sent by God so that you may beleive what is false and be condemned because, you have rejected the true word of God and ran after short lived earthly pleasures. Now, one may ask a question, If you say it is not about success, deliverance, breakthroughs, health, promotions, marriage, winning court cases, etc, then what value is there in having faith in Jesus? This is a good question and I will allow Paul to answer it. Just so we know were we are, Paul is writing to the Phillipians and in chapter 2:2-9, Paul is telling them toRead More

Today’s message is meant to open the eyes of those who instead of following the true word of God, decide to follow those that promise them success, deliverance, breakthroughs, health, promotions, marriage, etc. God never promised all of these things but, rather He promised salvation and suffering. If you are currently a member of a church whose pastor is promising all these things, you might be following and supporting a false preacher and that is a sign of your own pending destruction in hell. This message is for you and it will show you what I am talking about. Our message starts at 2 Thes 2:9-12 but, just as a way of introduction. Paul was addressing a heresy that was being taught to the church at Thessalonica that Jesus had already come and from verse 1-8, Paul told them that the end will come once the rebellion has taken place, the man of lawlessness has been fully revealed who will oppose God and Jesus and declare Himslef god, and the restrainer who now restrains him is removed. Then Jesus will come and kill him with a breath of His mouth. Paul calls this man of lawlessness a son of destruction.Read More

John 17:24-26 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ” 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. In John 17:5, Jesus asked God to glorify him in His presence with the glory that He had with God before the world existed. Now, Jesus is asking God that His disciples may be with Him where He is, that is in heaven, so that they may see this same glory that God has given Him. Jesus is asking God to glorify Him and allow the disciples to come and see His Glory. Jesus in this verse indicates once more just like in John 17:5, that this glory that God has given Him, He gave Him before the foundation of the world because He loved Him. God loved and gave Jesus glory before the world existed. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. Jesus starts by stating that God is righteous. Jesus said in John 8:55 that He knows GodRead More

John 17:20-23 (ESV Strong’s Bible) “20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, In verse 9, Jesus said that He is not praying for the world but for His immediate disciples. Those that beleived in Him while He was on earth. Now in this verse above, Jesus is now praying for everyone including those disciples that will become disciples through the preaching of the current disciples. Those that will believe in Jesus as a result of the preaching of the current disciples. This includes you and me. Paul does indicate this as well in Romans 10:14 when he said that how will anyone beleive if no one is sent to preach. So Jesus is now not only praying for his immediate disciples but for all future disciples as well. 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. Jesus says that God is in him and He is in God. What does this mean? It means that Jesus and God areRead More

When I was thinking of writing this message, the first place I went to check was Exodus 20. Why? This is because I have always been taught and I always assumed that there was a commandment among The Ten Commandments that said “thou shall not lie”. I am not sure how many people I have told that there was indeed such a commandment. While I was telling others this, guess what….., I was lying. May God forgive me. The closest commandment to thou shall not lie is the commandment that says “you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”. This clearly shows how easy is it to lie. We lie all the time for various reasons and we always seem to want to justify why we lied. The word of God actually agrees that we are liars. In Psalm 116:11, the psalmist says that all people are liars. The dictionary defines a lie as a statement that deviates from or perverts(alters) the truth. In the New Testament, the Greek word from whom lie is translated is “pseudomai” which means to utter an untruth or to attempt to decieve by falsehood. The bible tells us in John 8:44 that theRead More

Fornication means any unlawful, immoral and or illegal sexual activity. It includes any form of sexual activity other than between a man and his wife. It includes homosexuality in all its form, since it is not between a man and his wife. The word fornication comes from the same greek word that we get pornography from, which is “porneia”. In Mat 15:19, Jesus said that fornication comes out of a man’s heart and it defiles him. It makes him unclean, impure. Paul says in 1 Cor 6:13 that the body is not meant for fornication but for God. Paul says in 1 Cor 6:18 that we need to flee from engaging in fornication since unlike other sins, fornication is a sin against our own bodies. Paul says in 1 Thes 4:3-7, that it is the will of God that we abstain from fornication. He says that God wants us to be in control of our bodies in holiness and honor. Paul continues to warn us that disregarding this command, it is to disregard God. Paul says in Gal 5:19 that the works of the flesh includes fornication and whoever engages in it, will not inherit the Kingdom of God. InRead More

John 17:17-19 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ” 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. The word sanctify means to purify or to set apart or to make holy. Jesus here, is asking God to set the disciples apart and make them holy by His word. Jesus said in John 15:3 that the disciples were clean because of the word that he spoke to them. Paul said in 2 Thes 2:13 that we must be always thankful that God chose us to be saved through the sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth. Peter says in 1 Peter 1:22 that our souls are purified by the our obedience to the truth. Therefore Jesus is asking God to make the disciples Holy, through His word that they have recieved and believed. It is the word of God that makes us Holy. Spending time studying the word of God will produce holiness in us. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. Just as God sent Jesus to the world, Jesus is now sending His disciples to the world. Indeed in John 20:21, Jesus did sent them out. In this verse, JesusRead More

John 17:12-16 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ” 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. The word “kept” as in my previous message, is translated from a greek word which means to guard by keeping an eye on. The word “name” in the New Testament mostly refers in similar context to the authority and power behind that name, see Mark 16:17, Mat 21:9, Luke 10:17. The word “guarded” is translated from a greek word which means to prevent from escaping and lastly, the word “lost” is translated for a Greek word which means “to destroy or to be subject to eternal death”. The words “son of destruction” means “bound to be lost or destined for destruction”. Jesus is therefore saying in the above verse that He has guarded the disciples by keeping an eye on them while He was on earth. He managed to keep them by the power and authority that God gave to him. Jesus says He has protected them from straying away to the evil oneRead More

John 17:9-11 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ” 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. John 17:20 makes it clear at this stage that, Jesus is only praying for His immediate disciples that God gave Him while He was on earth. In John 17:2, Jesus mentions that, He gives eternal life only to those that God has given Him and in John 17:6, Jesus once more says that, the disciples first belonged to God and God has given them to Him. Now in this verse we are looking at, Jesus says that He is only praying for those disciples that God has given to Him while on earth. Jesus makes it clear here that He is not praying for the world but only them. I think so far it is now clear that Jesus will not give eternal life to anyone else except to those people that first belonged to God and then given to Him. Jesus is also not praying for anyone else except those that have been given to him by God. Again I draw on John 6:44 where Jesus said noRead More

John 17:6-8 (ESV Strong’s Bible) “6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. The word manifested means to make evident. In the context of this verse, it means to reveal God’s true character. Jesus is praying His High Priestly prayer and, after having prayed for himself in verses 1-5, He now starts to pray for His disciples. We know that at this stage Jesus was only praying for those that believed in Him while He was in the world and were with Him as He was praying. We know this because in verse 20, Jesus says that I do not pray for these only but also for those who will beleive through the disciples’s words. So, at this stage of the prayer, Jesus is only praying for His immediate disciples. In the prayer for His disciples Jesus, starts by saying that He has revealed God and His true Character to the disciples. The same disciples that God gave to Him out of the world. Out of the whole world, these are the disciples that God choseRead More

One of the difficulties among many, that Christianity faces today is that, Non Christians because of False Christians, criticise Christianity as a whole. What do I mean? What I mean is that, the only publicity Christianity is getting, seem to come only from those who misrepresent Christianity. I know some will quickly say I am judging. Let me put that to rest right now using scripture. 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (New Living Translation – NLT) “12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”” So once you claim to be a Christian, as a fellow Christian, I can judge you. Rom 1:20-22 says that all people know God because the creation itself testifies of God’s eternal power and divine nature. So, they are without an excuse. Although they know God and do not have an excuse, they neither glorify Him as God nor give thanks to Him. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. This is contrary to what God wanted. God wanted all GloryRead More

John 17:3-5 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Having already worked through verses 1-2 and learned from them that Jesus was praying His High Prieslty Prayer and in the first two verses, He prayed that God must glorify Him as He will in turn glorify God. We learned that God will glorify Jesus by raising Him from the dead and sitting with Him at His throne, and in turn, Jesus will glorify God by dying on the cross for our sins and thereby showing that God is a righteous and a just God who will not leave sin unpunished. Jesus’s death will also show that God is merciful, full of grace and full of love. Jesus indicated that God must glorify Him by giving him the power over all mankind in order that he may give eternal life to those whom God has given him. This is a nudshell summarizes verses 1-2. Now in this verse, verse 3, Jesus explains how to obtain this eternal life that is given by him and has the power to give. Let’s do a quick wordRead More

John 17:2(ESV Strong’s Bible) 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. Verse 2 above continues from 1 and the word “him” here refers to “the Son” referred to in verse 1, who is Jesus. Jesus is referring to Himself here in the third person in this High Priestly Prayer He is giving. Jesus said in verse 1 that God must glorify Him so that He can Glorify God. So in this verse 2, Jesus gives an explanation or a reason why the Son must be glorified. Now, there is more to this verse than meets the eye and I want us to go a little bit deeper in it. First let’s do some words studies. Since, translated from the Greek word “kathos” which means, “according as”, “according to” or “by”. Used 182 times in the AV(Authorised version or King James Version) and not once translated as “by”. Translated only once in the ESV as “by” in 2 Cor 4:1. This word “kathos” has been translated in the AV 138 times as “as”, 4 times as “according as” and 1 time as “according to” in Acts 11:19.Read More

John 17:1(ESV Strong’s Bible) ​1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, Since chapter 13, Jesus has been speaking only to his disciples. It started out at the upper room where He washed their feet. Now, John says that “When Jesus has spoken these words”, by these words, John could be reffering to the words Jesus spoke towards the end of chapter 16, or the words Jesus spoke since chapter 16 or the words He spoke since chapter 13. It is not clear. I am comfortable to say that to me, it means the words that He spoke since chapter 13. After speaking these words, Jesus looked up to heaven and started praying. The phrase “the hour has come”, has been used often in the gospel of John to indicate that the time of jesus’s death has arrived. Jesus is saying to God that, His death is near and that God should glorify Him, so that He may glorify God. God said through Isaiah in Isa 42:8 that He will not give his glory to another and hereRead More

In today’s message, only one verse will be dealt with but, there is such rich information in this verse that I had to do it on its own. Colossians 1:9 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, In the previous message, we dealt with verses 1-8 and in these verses, the message dealt with the hope that the Colossae had, which they developed after hearing the word of truth, which is the gospel that was preached to them by Epaphras. This hope which is laid for them in heaven, led them to have faith in Jesus and to love all the saints. In today’s message in verse 9 above, Paul starts the verse with the words “And so,”, meaning that Paul is saying, now that you have this hope, now that you have faith in Jesus and now that you have love for all saints, since he heard that they had all these, Paul has not ceased to pray for them, asking God to fill them with the knowledge ofRead More

Colossians 1:1-8 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ​1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. Here Paul is simply indicating that He and Timothy were together at the same place when Paul was writing the letter. The letter was written in Rome while Paul was in prison. Paul was writing a letter to the Christians in Colossae and in this verse, He is simply greeting them. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Paul says here that they always thanked God, when they prayed but, not just any God, but the God who is the Father our Lord Jesus Christ. They always thanked God when they prayed for those at Colossae ever since they heard of their faith in Jesus Christ and their love for all the saints. This faith that theyRead More

Isaiah 59:1-2 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ​1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; The word shortened is a Hebrew word called “qasar”, a verb which means to shorten or to become impatient. It has a sense of holding back. The word save is a Hebrew word “yasa”, a verb meaning to help, deliver or to defend. It has an underlying idea of bringing to a place of safety. So, what the verse is saying here is that the hand of God is not too short that it cannot reach out to people and bring them to a place of safety. Isaiah is giving a message to Israel that although they are living in sin and on their way to eternal condemnation, God’s hand is ready and able to bring them all to salvation. To save them from eternal judgement. Isaiah tells them that God’s ear is not dull that He cannot hear them when they call out to him for repentance. Isaiah says in Isaiah 65:24 that even before they call, God will answer and while they are speaking, God will hear. In Isaiah 30:19, Isaiah says asRead More

3- Obeying the word of Truth In part 1 of this message we discussed how to remove obstacles that prevent us from hearing and recieving the word of Truth. We said that we must be quick to hear the word, by being slow to speak or slow to preach the word, and also being slow to anger because of the word. We said we must also get rid of all immorality, abundance of evil and we must humble ourself before God. We said having done all this, we wll be able not only to hear the word but receive the word. For more on this, read Part 1. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Once we have heard and recieved the word properly then, we must not only hear and recieve it, but we just be doers of the word. In other words, we must obey or be obedient to the word. James says if we hear and receive the word only and not obey it, then we are deceiving ourselves. There are a lot of verses in the bible that indicate to us that we must obey the word. Jesus himself toldRead More

James 1:16-27 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.19 Know this, my beloved brothers: James seeks to provide tests that a true Christian can take in order to assure themselves of their salvation. In 1:1-12, James adresees how to handle trials as a Christian and in 1:13-15, James addresses how a Cnristian handles temptations. From verse 16-27, James now moves to addressing how a Christian reacts to the word of God and that is our message. From 16-19a, James highlights and reminds us all that every good gift and every perfect gift is from God and by His own will, He brought us forth by the word of Truth. Then James says, this, we must know. There is more to be said on these verses but for now, that is where we will love it. Going through this message, we will seeRead More

John 16:25-33 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. Jesus said “I have said these things to you” at the beginning of chapter 16. So, I think in saying the same thing once more here, indicates that He is reffering to everything he said since the beginning of chapter 16. Again Jesus refers to the hour that is coming, meaning the time is coming. Jesus told them that the time was coming when he will no longer speak to them in figures of speech but, He will speak to them plainly. This I beleive is when the disciples would have recieved the Holy Spirit. Jesus did mention that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will tell them all truth and will tell them what He hears. Jesus will speak to his disciples through the Holy Spirit and tell them plainly about God. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf;Read More

John 16:16-24 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” Jesus since chapter 15:18 until 16:16, has been telling His disciples that they will face persecutions for their faith. He is been preparing them and telling them to expect it. In verse 16 above, Jesus repeats what He has told them since chapter 7:33 and also in 14:19 that in a little while He will be gone and again in a little while He will be back. Jesus here is clearly reffering to His cruxifiction. The seeing him again can refer to either His resurrection or His second coming. Either of the events will bring Joy to the disciples. 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” The statement Jesus made confused His disciples, soRead More

Repentance is saying God I am a sinner and I have sinned against you. I am sorry that I have sinned and I promise not to sin again. Then, You have to live a lifestyle that proves that you truly meant it, when you said you will not sin again. Repentance is a 180 degrees turn. When you woke up this morning, especially the Ladies, you looked in a mirror and the mirror told you the truth about how you look. Once you saw the truth, you went into the bathroom and cleaned yourself. This is exactly what the law of God is, it is a mirror that we need to look into, to see how we truly are and how God sees us so that we can realize that we need to repent and put our trust in Jesus for salvation. Example, take the following test that uses only 5 of the Ten Commandments to show you how God sees you right now. Promise to be honest to yourself. Only you will know the answer. I wish I could take credit for this test but it is not mine and belongs to Ray Comfort from Livingwaters.com and I hopeRead More

John 16:12-15 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Jesus after telling his disciples about the Holy Spirit who is the helper and what the helper will come and do, He then tells them that there are so many things that he wanted to tell them but they could not bear or handle the information at that point. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. The Spirit of truth, still reffering to the Holy Spirit, Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit will guide them or lead them into all truth. All truth will be revealed to them through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not speak on his own authority but, he will speak whatever he hears. What will he hear and from who? Jesus said to his disciples in John 15:15 that all that He had heard from God, He has made known to them and Psa 25:5Read More

John 16:7-11 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. Jesus had just told his disciples that instead of asking him about heaven, their hearts are filled with sorrow because he told them that he is going away. Jesus then said to them that, nevertheless or despite that, their hearts are filled with sorrow, he still has to go away as it is in their advantage that he goes away. The advantage is that the helper will only come if he goes away. The word in Greek translated as helper, it is the word “parakletos”. This word means an intersessor, a consoled, an advocate or comforter. It is used to refer to help of any kind. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: The word convict in the verse is translated from the Greek word “elegcho” which means to convince or show someone his fault or error and thus shame him. This is what the HelperRead More

John 16:1-6 (ESV Strong’s Bible) ​1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. By these things, Jesus is reffering to the hatred and the persecution that the world will serve against the disciples. Jesus started in chapter 15:18 to illustrate this fact. The Greek word used for falling away also means to cause one to stumble or to trip and fall. So, Jesus is saying that he is telling them these things so that they do not get tripped by these persecutions and then fall away from grace. Jesus is simply telling them these things so that when they do happen, they should expect them and not fall away and stop beleiving but rather they must persevere or endure. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. A synagogue to a Jewish person was the center of all his/ her social activities. The synagogue was the center of every Jewish person. So, to be kicked out of the synagogue was to be cut out of the community. You were pretty much being declared an outcast.Read More

We discussed in detail in Part 1 of this series regarding how important it is to live a life that reflects that you are truly a Christian. We went into detail regarding how important it is to live a fruitful life. This is an extract from the last message:” If you are truly saved, you will hate sinning and instead you will love obeying God and avoid sin. John says that a child of God does not keep on sinning. He does not say that a child of God does not sin but, he says that he does not keep on sinning. So, if you look at your life and it reflects a continuous unbroken pattern of sin, then you are not a child of God and are not saved. A true Christian will sin from time to time but, he will hate the fact that he has sinned and disobeyed God. A true Christian will repent from that sin and ask God to forgive him and help him overcome that sin. A true Christian does not enjoy and justify sinning. Now, if you find yourself currently in your life living a life contrary to what God has commanded us,Read More

Many people will be happy to confess that they are Christians in our country of South Africa. The majority of people, about 80% or more of the population, declares their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Do you confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead? Almost all the time, the answer to this question is Yes. This question comes from Romans 10:9:Rom 10:9 (ESVST) because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.This is what the bible says and therefore anyone who confesses with their mouth and believe in their heart, they are indeed saved. Paul says in Corinthians that:2Co 5:17 (ESVST) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.So, as a saved person, as someone who has confessed with his mouth and believed in his heart, you are indeed in Christ and therefore a new creation. What does this mean that you are a new creation? Lets look at this. Paul says in Corinthians that:2CoRead More

John 15:26-27 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. Take note that since chapter 15:18-25, Jesus has been telling his disciples that the world will hate them and they will be persecuted because of Jesus or in his name. He told them that they must know when these things happen that, the world hated him and persecuted him first. He also told them that the world does not have an excuse for unbelief since he has given them the word and showed them works that no one else could do. Verse 26 starts with the word “but” indicating the opposite of what Jesus is being saying since verse 18. The opposite is that the helper will come. The word translated from Greek as helper is the word “parakletos”. This word means a comforter or advocate and does not really mean helper. I think the ESV mistranslated this word. The KJV translates it as comforter which makes sense in the context of the hatred and the persecution that the disciples will face. The comforter whoRead More

In the previous passage, Jesus indicated to his disciples that just as the world has hated him, they will also hate them in his name. Jesus indicated that they will be persecuted by those that hate God and hate him. John 15:22-25 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. For starters we should make this point clear that, even if Jesus did not come, everyone who hated Jesus, would still have sin. Jesus does not imply that they only have sin now that they have rejected and hated him. Jesus came to die for all of us because we are sinners. We were already sinners and condemned to hell before Jesus came to die for us. What Jesus is reffering to here is the sin of unbelief. Failure to beleive in Jesus. This is the sin that Jesus is reffering to and this is the sin that will condemn the world to hell. You see, no one will go to hell because they sin and are sinners. Even Christians are sinners. People are and will go toRead More

We have been busy with John 15 and already have looked at verses 1-17. These were very rich verses that pointed towards us as Christians. How we must abide in Christ to be able to bear fruits, how we must keep Jesus’s commandments if we are to remain in his love, how we must love one another as Jesus has loved us and how we were chosen by Jesus and appointed to bear fruits. John 15:18-21 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. We now come to a portion of John 15 which intends to prepare those that abide in Jesus and abide in his love, meaning true Christians, for persecution that will follow them because of their being Christians. Jesus prepares them upfront and he told that that the world will hate them but they must know, we must know, that the world hated him first. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. This is a very difficultRead More

John 15:9-17 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. I am hoping to cover verses 9-17 in this message but I am in doubt because of the immense richness of these verses. there is so much to learn. We have just learned from verse 1-8 that those Christians that are truly believers, continue to remain or abide in Jesus and that way, they are able to produce fruits that glorify God. We also learned that throughout this process, God will discipline them from time to time to ensure that they continue to bear even much fruit. We also learned that false believers will eventually be cut off and thrown into the fire. Now I want you to split verses 9-17 into two. On one side there is God and Jesus, and on the other side there is Jesus and his disciples. See, how Jesus does to his disciples what God has done to him. The two are very parallel. Now in this verse, verse 9, Jesus tells his disciples that he has loved them as God has loved him. Jesus is giving the same love to his disciples as God has givenRead More

John 15:1-8 (ESV Strong’s Bible) I Am the True Vine​1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Jesus here is using the analogy of a vine and a Vinedressor and in this analogy, God is the Vinedressor and He is the true vine. Jesus is talking with his disciples. Now if you can imagine or have seen a grapevine, you will notice that it is a huge tree with lots of branches and with one main stem. A vinedressor is a person who cultivates and prunes grapevines. So, in this analogy, God is the person who cultivates or prunes the vine. Jesus being the true vine in this analogy, which is the main stem of the vine, he will have branches coming out of him. Jesus is saying that every branch in him, that does not bear fruit, the Vinedressor, who in this case is God, takes away, and those that bear fruit, God prunes so that it may bear more fruit. The word to prune, also meansRead More

We are still busy with the Matthews 3:8-10 and in the last messages, we looked at the background of Matthews 3:8-10. We talked about the genealogy of Jesus, Jesus birth, King Herod, Pharisees and Saduccees. We also talked about how John called the Pharisees and Saduccees offsprings of snakes, and asked them who warned them to flee from the wrath of God. We also did a word study. We looked at the words “bear”,”fruits”, “keeping” and “repentance” and after studying these words, we were able to see clearly what John the Baptist was saying to the Pharisees and the Saduccees. Form this study and also form studying the background and historical information together with some cross references, we came to a conclusion that John the Baptist was saying the following to Pharisees and Saduccees and this is also how they understood it: If you claim to be religious and righteous, then you must produce good works or fruits that are visible and real, whose quality is of equal value, suitable and corresponding with your repentance (or their mind having been changed from being evil to being good). To us today this is what John the Baptist is saying: If youRead More

Matthew 3:8 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. We are still busy with the above verse and in the last messages, we looked at the background of Matthews 3:8-10. We talked about the genealogy of Jesus, Jesus birth, King Herod, Pharisees and Saduccees. We also talked about how John called the Pharisees and Saduccees offsprings of snakes, and asked them who warned them to flee from the wrath of God. We also did a word study. We looked at the words “bear” and “fruits” and we established that by these words, John is commanding the Pharisees and the Saduccees to produce good works that are visible and real, in keeping with repentance. So the next words are keeping and repentance. Let’s look at the word “keeping”. The word in Greek is the word “axios” which comes from the word “ago”, which means to weigh. The word “axios” means of equal value or similar worth as used in Rom 8:18. It also means by implication, suitable or corresponding to. It is used 41 times in the King James Version and translated 35 times as worthy. This therefore means that John the Baptist, is commanding the Pharisees andRead More

In the last message we looked at some background to Matt 3:8-10. We talked about the genealogy of Jesus, Jesus birth, King Herod, Pharisees and Saduccees. We also talked about how John called the Pharisees and Saduccees offsprings of snakes and asked them who warned them to flee from the wrath of God. We now pick up our message from verse 8. In verse 8-10, John tells the Pharisees and Saduccees that they must bear fruits in keeping with their repentance and they must not think that being Abraham’s descendants will help them from God’s wrath. He tells them that any one who does not bear fruits in keeping with his repentance will be judged. Let’s look at this passage. Matthew 3:8-10 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. This is the most important verse of our passage and I will like us to go a little bit deep into it and have a clear understanding of what John is saying here. Let’s start by looking at each word in the verse and make sure we understand its meaning in context. The first word is to Bear. The word bear in Greek is the word “Poieo” whichRead More

According to the 2001 national census, Christians accounted for 79.7% of the population. This includes Zion Christian(11.1%), Pentecostal (Charismatic) (8.2%), Roman Catholic (7.1%), Methodist (6.8%), Dutch Reformed (6.7%), Anglican(3.8%); members of other Christian churches accounted for another 36% of the population. This stats comes from Wikipedia. Almost 80% of the population is Christian. This is what people answered when they were asked to fill in the part about religion on the form. Is this really true? If 80% of the population is Christian then, why do we have such high crime rates, high poverty, high in incidences of rape, divorce, sexual immorality, etc. is this how Christians live? If this is the case, can we really beleive these stats? If 80% of our population were truly Christian as we claim, then we should all be overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and the fruits of that should have been: Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV Strong’s Bible) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. I am sure that you would agree with me that, what is listed in the verse above is not what we seeRead More

Well, we all know that Jesus is the Son of God, God reincarnate, our Lord and Savior and the son of Mary and Joseph. I came accross this passage in Colosians that gave even more information on exactly who Jesus is. Let’s look at it. Colossians 1:15-20 (ESVST) 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. The word image is from a Greek word “eikon” which can also mean to be like, to resemble or in the appearance of. So, Jesus is the resemblance, the likeness or the appearance of the invisible God. Jesus is the representation of the invisible God. In Jesus we see God. Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. Now this verse has been used by some others, to indicate that Jesus was created by God and therefore not God. This is with respect not true as Jesus cannot both be the created and the creator. In verse 16 below, the verse says all things were created through him and for him. Now, if all things were created through him, how can he also be the creator. Verse 17 says that heRead More

2 Thessalonians 1:4-10 (ESVST) Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. 5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering — The patience and faith that those Christians in Thessalonica had in all their persecutions and troubles that they were enduring, is the evidence that God uses to justify his consideration of these Christians, worthy of the kingdom of God for which they are suffering. 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes onRead More

I remember that I used to feel very sad and angry because of what false pastors and prophets were doing to the people. I felt that the people were being taken for a ride and they are used by these false pastors and prophets not for their benefit but for the benefit of themselves. In a nutshell, I used to think that people who are deceived by these false teachers and prophets, were victims. I say I used to because I don’t think so anymore. Now I beleive that these people are not victims. I say this because they are getting exactly what they wanted. What these false pastors and prophets are telling them, it is exactly what they want to hear and that is the reason why the pay so much. These people who listen to these false pastors and prophets, they know the truth just like you and me (at least most of them), they know that Jesus is the truth and that truth is to be found in the bible. Having all that knowledge, knowing the truth, they chose to reject the truth and choose lies. They chose to reject the light and choose darkness. They payRead More

John 14:27-31 (ESVST) Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Peace be with you was a common way of greeting among the Jews. However, Jesus here implies that the type of peace that he gives, is different from the normal earthly peace. Jesus then gives them a commandment not to be troubled and not to be afraid. This alone should bring peace in one’s life. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you. ’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. Jesus here indicates that if the disciples loved him, they would rejoice in the fact that he is going to God who is greater than he is. Now, this is a problematic verse. Here it might be understood to mean two things. One that the disciples did not love Jesus and two, that God is greater than Jesus. On the first one of love, Jesus could simply be indicating theirRead More

John 14:22-26 (ESVST) Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “ Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “ If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Jesus just indicated in verse 21 that he will manifest himself to anyone that keeps his commandments. Hence Judas is asking him how he will manifest himself to them but not the world. Jesus once more indicates that keeping his word, is proof that someone loves him. If anyone loves him, it will show in his keeping of his word. Again, this does not mean that you need to keep Jesus’s word in order to love him. Keeping Jesus’s word is not a condition that must be met before one can love Jesus. Actually, loving Jesus results in one keeping his word. Jesus says, if anyone keeps his word, God will love that person and both God and Jesus will come and make their home with that person. This I believe refers to the Holy Spirit which is currently among the believersRead More

John 14:15-21 (ESVST) 15 “ If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Verse 15 and 16 are linked by the word “and” in verse 16 . This shows that verse 16 is a continuation from verse 15. Verse 16 will only happen if 15 happens. As indicated in my previous message on verse 15, verse 15 can be read as “to show that you love me, keep my commandments”. For further explanation, please read my previous message on verse 15. http://www.undilutedwordofgod.blogspot.com/2014/07/john-1415-if-you-love-me-keep-my.html So, to show that you love me, keep my commandment. Only if you have shown that you love me by keeping my commandments, only then will I ask my Father(God) to send you a helper, comforter, counsellor or advocate, who will be with you forever. This helper is the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit, the world cannot recieve why, because the world cannot see him andRead More

John 14:15 (ESVST) 15 “ If you love me, you will keep my commandments. This is one verse that has sparked quite a lot of controvesy especially among the Roman Catholic Church or similar churches and the Reformers or Protestant Churches or similar churches. This is because the Roman Catholic Church beleives in Salvation by grace through faith plus obedience to the law, while the Reformers believe in Salvation by grace through faith plus nothing. This verse and others like it, have been used by the Roman Catholic Church and other churches similar to them, to prove that we need to obey the law as part of our salvation. We cannot be saved if we don’t keep the commandments or the law. If you don’t keep the commandments then, you don’t love Jesus and if you don’t love Jesus, you are and cannot be saved. The Reformers or Protestants on the other hand beleive that obedience to the law is a result of salvation. In other words, the keeping of the commandments comes as a result of one having received salvation. Keeping of commandments is the result of or the fruits of salvation. In other words, the proof that oneRead More

John 14:7-14 (ESVST) If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Jesus just told his disciples that he was the way the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through him. Now Jesus tells them that if they had known him, they would have known the Father as well. Other translations translate this verse as “if you really knew me, you would have known the Father”. I suppose it makes more sense for one to understand that although Jesus’s disciples were always with him and he always taught them, they were not at a stage where they really knew who Jesus truly was. As any other human being, they had some doubts. Hence Jesus say here that if they had known him, they would have know the Father. This means if they really completely beleived in him and saw him for who he is, then they would Have seen the Father through him. Jesus is here representing the Father, he is here as the Father incarnate and he is here as the glory of the Father. If they sawRead More

John 14:1-3 (ESVST) 1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father ‘s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. Jesus is saying that he will come again, to take us to himself. The only time that Jesus is going to take us to himself, is when he comes again. Now, since Jesus ascended to heaven, he has not come again and we expect him to come again in future. The fact is that Jesus has not come. Another fact is that Jesus will takes us when he comes again. Now, since he has not come, then he has not taken us to himself yet. We cannot say that Jesus has taken us, and continues to take us, if he has not come again. The mistake that most Christians do is to think that because we die everyday, that is Jesus fulfilling his promise to comeRead More

Jesus is still with his disciples at the last supper and he had already washed their feet, given them the new love commandment, told them who was going to betray him and told Peter that he was going to deny him. All this was in chapter 13. These kind of news would obviously create anxiety among the disciples. Jesus, knowing what is in people hearts, saw that the disciples were troubled. John 14:1-6 (ESVST) 1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. Jesus seeing that the disciples were worried, told them that they should not be troubled. Different English translations, translate this verse differently. The issue comes in with the statement “Believe in God” which comes after the word “troubled”. Other translations, translate these words as “You believe in God“, others even translate it as “Do you beleive in God?“. It makes sense however that, Jesus in the context of John 14:1-14, is acceptng that that his disciples already believe in God. Jews have always beleived in God and that was never in doubt. It is the belief in Jesus that was the issue. So, Jesus here is saying, I know that you beleiveRead More

Jeremiah 18:1-12 (NLTse) 1 The L ord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” 3 So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. 4 But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. A potter is a craftsman who shapes pottery on a potter’s wheel. He then bakes it. Pottery is a ceramic ware made from clay. So, a potter takes clay, shapes it in a shape of his choice and bakes it. He uses a potter’s wheel to shape the clay. God told Jeremiah to go to the potter’s shop and there God will gve him a message. On arrival, Jeremiah found the potter busy working on his will. Jeremiah noticed that the object that the potter was attempting to create was spoiled or did not turn out as the potter expected. The potter on realizing that, he crushed the clay into a lump and started over again. 5 Then the L ord gave me this message:6 “O Israel, canRead More

Israel was God’s chosen nation that was supposed to be the nation through which, the word of God was to be preached throughout the world. God rescued them from Egypt and made a covenant with them. This covenant included Laws that they were to obey if they were to remain God’s chosen nation. Israel continually rebelled against God by failing to obey his laws. The passage below is one of the times that they did rebel against God. I will use this passage to illustrate what God’s position is regarding those that fail to align the plans with that of God. Those who fail to align God’s will with that of theirs. These are those that fail to live according to the will of God. This message is meant to serve as a lesson to all of us. Isaiah 30:1-5 (NLTse) 1 “What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the L ord. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins. God is speaking through his prophet Isaiah to the children of Israel. God starts by indicating that sorrow awaits his rebellious children. The children God is refferingRead More

Now let’s look at how God himself defines fasting and what He regards as true fasting. We will discuss three topics: 1) Incorrect way of fasting,2) Correct way of fasting and 3) Benefits of fasting correctly Isaiah 58:1-12 (NIV) 1) Incorrect way of fasting 1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. Clearly here God through Isaiah, he is indicating that Israel has rebelled against God. God is saying that they are eager to seek him or for his help but yet they are a nation that does what is not right. They have forsaken God’s commands. Yet having rebelled against God and not following his commands, they still expect God to give them just decision. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?Read More

What is fasting and who and why must we fast? Let’s take a look at the history in the Old Testament of fasting. The Hebrew word used in the Old Testament for fasting is the word “sum” a verb meaning to abstain from food. It is most often used with the Hebrew word “Ana” which means to deal harshly with oneself or self affliction. The word to fast is used 17 times in the Old Testament. This word fast in the Old Testament is always associated with abstaining from all food and drink. It appears from scripture that fasting always means not eating and not drinking. The meaning of the word itself is to abstain from food and drink. The practice in the Old Testament always seemed to mean abstaining from all food and all drink. Deuteronomy 9:18 (ESVST) Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. Fasting in the Old Testament was done when someone was morning 1 Sam 31:13, ifRead More

The Lord’s Prayer is found in the gospel of Matthew and Luke only. The one in Luke is given by Jesus as an answer to a question from one of his disciples. One of his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. Luke 11:1-4 (ESVST) 1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “ Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “ When you pray, say: “ Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” It is not clear why Luke placed this prayer here when Matthew placed it as part of the Sermon at the Mount. Another thing to note is that Luke’s prayer is shorter than the one in Matthew. Luke omitted certain parts of the prayer. For this reason we will use Matthews prayer for this message. Another difference to note is that in Matthew, no question was asked. The Lord’s prayer was givenRead More

John 13:31-38 (ESVST) 31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “ Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. It is Judas who has gone out in the above verse. Once he left, Jesus told them that now he is Glorified and God is also glorified in him. Jesus also said that if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him at once. Sounds confusing but what it means is simply that through Jesus death on the cross, God will be glorified and through that, God will glorify him as well. Paul in Romans 3 also stated that Jesus’s death glorifies God. Romans 3:25-26 (ESVST) whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God ‘s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Jesus also,Read More

John 13:21-30 (ESVST) 21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “ Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. “After saying these things”, refers to what Jesus just said regarding the servant not being greater that the master in verse 20 above. Jesus was troubled knowing that he was about to be betrayed and knew what was coming after this betrayal. It is not clear whether Jesus was worried or troubled about the fact that Judas was about to be an apostate or wether it was about the tribulation he was going to go through including the cross, because of what Judas is about to do. I say maybe even both. Jesus then told them that one of them was going to betray him. As you would expect, they were all shocked at this statement. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus ‘side, There are a lot of translations of this verse. “leaning on Jesus ‘bosom,” KJV; “lying close to the breast of Jesus,” RSV; “reclining on Jesus’ breast,” NASB; “recliningRead More

I am writing this message out of a sad heart. Sad because of the way I see people, especially the poor, how they are being robbed of their God given money by the so called “men of god”. Sad because I see the poor giving away their last cent to these “men of god” thinking that it is what God wants. I see this happening time and time again. Wherever you go, look, people are being robbed. These “men of god” are not armed with dangerous weapons as we know them but, they are armed with the word of God. They are using the word of God by twisting it, to extort money form unsuspecting people. One of the scriptures that most of them uses and the most famous scripture that they use is Malachi 3:6-10. Malachi 3:6-10 (ESVST) 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return? ’ 8 Will manRead More

John 13:12-17 (ESVST) When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? Jesus after washing their feet, put on back his original clothing and sat back with them at the table. He then asked them if they understood what he has done for them. 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another ‘s feet. Jesus starts by saying that his disciples call him Lord and Teacher and they are right to call him that. A teacher in this context refers to an instructor. Someone who teaches others. Lord means master. This is the same word that a slave would use to refer to his owner. Then Jesus said to them, if I as your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. Remember I explained in Part 1 of this message that the task of washing feet was such a shameful task that it was only leftRead More

John 13:1-11 (ESVST) 1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Just before the Passover, Jesus knew that the time for his death and his return to God was now very near. Jesus has always loved his disciples and even to this day, when his death is so near, he still loved them and he will love them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’ s son, to betray him, Despite the love with which Jesus loved his disciples, the devil placed in Judas’s heart that he should betray him. This is betrayal despite the love that was poured. Judas here represents all those that despite the love that Jesus loved us with, they chose to turn their backs on him and choose darkness. They exchanged Jesus’s love for sin. Judas represents apostacy at its highest level. Judas is a man who was chosen by Jesus, taught by Jesus, saw Jesus do all sorts ofRead More

As we have all read from Romans 1:18-32 – 2:1-11 about the wrath and judgment of God upon those who continue to reject him and suppress the truth through their unrighteousness and wickedness. We read that God has abandoned those and gave them up to the lusts of their hearts and their debased mind. This abandonment was God’s wrath revealed upon these people. We also read in detail how judgement will be executed against those that continue in this slippery slope of unrighteousness and wickedness which, only leads to eternal hell. Once God abandons you, you have no way of restraining yourself from sin and this will only lead you to eternal condemnation. We read how each person will have to account for his works. We read how this applies to all people wether Jew or Gentile or Non Jew. From 2:12 – 3:20, Paul addresses the Jews specifically regarding the law, judgement and the righteousness of God. This then brings us to our passage that starts at 3:21. Romans 3:21-26 (ESVST) 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— From 1:18 – 3:20,Read More

Romans 2:1-11 (ESVST) 1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. As you can see, the verse above starts with therefore. This is because it is a continuation of what Paul discussed in verses 18-32. Paul was discussing how the wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who suppress the truth through their unrighteousness. Paul indicated that this wrath was revealed because although people knew God, they rejected him and failed to give him glory and thanks and instead worshiped idols. Paul indicated that as a result of this, God abandoned them to the lusts of their hearts and to their worthless minds. The abandonment led to some people becoming homosexuals: Romans 1:26-27 (ESVST) For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for theirRead More

Now that we know why we must glorify God, how can we glorify him? What can we do or don’t do, say or don’t say to glorify God? How can we as human beings glorify God? We can glorify God by: Confessing Jesus Christ as Lord Philippians 2:11 (NLTse) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Confessing our sins Joshua 7:19 (NLTse) Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the L ord, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me.” Glorifying Christ Acts 19:17 (ESVST) And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Being faithful to God 1 Peter 4:11 (NLTse) Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory andRead More

We always here this phrase brothers and sisters “Glorify God”. Do we even know what that means? Do we know why we must and do we know how we can do it? In this message, I will try and answer that. What does the word Glorify mean? The word glorify is a verb that comes from the noun Glory which means honor and/or praise. So, to glorify God means to give God honor and/or praise. The dictionary defines glory as a state of high honor. So, now that we know what Glory and glorifying God means, why must we glorify God? We glorify God because: God commanded us to glorify him Psalms 22:23 (ESVST) You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! It is due to him 1 Chronicles 16:29 (NLTse) Give to the L ord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his presence. Worship the L ord in all his holy splendor. For his holiness Psalms 99:9 (NLTse) Exalt the L ord our God, and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem, for the L ord our GodRead More

2. THE JUDGMENT FROM GOD AGAINST AN UNREPENTED SINNER Romans 1:24-32 (ESVST) Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. The very same unrepented sinners who although God had made himself known among them through the prophets, through Jesus, through the bible and through creation, rejected him. The very same unrepented sinners upon whom God’s wrath is revealed because they suppress the truth with their disrespect towards God and their immoral nature, God gave them up. This means God abandoned them. God abandoned them to continue in the lusts of their hearts, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. In other words, God allowed them to be unrestrained, to go on this road that will only lead to their destruction. This is a serious judgment from God because it is only with God that we can restrain ourself from the lust of our hearts. Without God, there are no restraints and being abandoned to the lust of our hears means,Read More

We will through this message discuss two things: 1. The current state of an unrepented sinner 2. The judgement from God against an unrepented sinner 1. THE STATE OF AN UNREPENTED SINNER Romans 1:18-22 (ESVST) 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. The wrath of God is not an uncontrolled senseless rage but, rather a justified anger from God towards sinners who will not repent. God does not take pleasure in the death of a sinner so, clearly his anger is not an uncontrolled rage. Ezekiel 18:32 (ESVST) For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.” Although God does not take pleasure in the death of a sinner, God is also a just God and it’s only just that sinners are punished for disobedience. The word “reveleaed” is from a Greek word “apokalypto” which means to uncover or to expose what was secret. So the wrath of God has now being revealed or uncovered. The anger of God has now being seen. This anger that has now being revealed, has been revealed againstRead More

Just before this passage, Jesus had just told the people about the parable of the prodigal son and now he gives them another one. Luke 16:1-13 (NIV) 1 Jesus told his disciples:“There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer. ’ In this parable we find two characters, the rich man and his manager. The rich man heard that the manager as wasting his possessions and summoned him to come and explain. The rich man had already made up his mind that he was going to fire the manager because, the rich man said that he cannot be a manager any longer. The only thing left was for the soon to be ex manager, to give a final account of his management. This simply means the manager had to close the books, make sure everything balances and hand them over to the rich man. 3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough toRead More

John 12:44-50 (ESVST) 44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. Jesus was sent by God into the world to come and save the people. Those who believe in him, also believes in God. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. Those who sees Jesus, also sees God as Jesus said in John 14:9-11 that he is in the father and the father is in him. So, when you see him, you see God. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. Jesus came into the world to tell the world about the truth so that those that believe his words, may have eternal life. This truth was the light and since it came through him, he was then the light of the world. The one who was going to light the path towards righteousness and eternal life. This is unlike the devil who is the darkness since he only spreads lies, in the process darkening the path to salvation. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, IRead More

John 12:36-43 (ESVST) While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “ Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. John here answered the question that I beleive most of us wanted to ask or were already asking. Why did the Jews fail to beleive in Jesus despite all the signs he had done among them? John is saying the answer to this question is that, the Jews’s unbelief was foretold by the scripture through Isaiah the prophet. John quotes Isaiah 53:1 and 6:10. So,Read More

John 12:20-36 (ESVST) 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. There is a bit of a debate around these Greeks that are being referred to here in this verse. Some say these are Gentiles who beleived in the God of the Jews, who might or might not have converted to Judaism and were coming to worship. Others beleive that these were Hellenists, meaning Jews who during the dispersion, were taken as slaves and their descendants were now living in other places. These would be the descendants of those Jews who were taken. Either way, these were not your normal Jews that were found in Jerusalem. One thing we know for certain is that they came to worship. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “ Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. These Greeks asked Phillip that they wanted to see Jesus. Philip told Andrew and they both went to tell Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Here Jesus isRead More

In the last message, the chief priest had decided that since people were starting to beleive in Jesus because of Lazarus, it was better that Lazarus must also die. Now, the Jews had decided that both Jesus and Lazarus must die. John 12:12-19 (ESVST) 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “ Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” On hearing that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem for the Passover feast, the people took palm tree branches and went out to meet him. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, they say that they even took their clothes and laid them on the floor where he was going to pass. They cried out Hossanna! blessed is he who comes in the name of The Lord, the king of Israel. Hosanna! from the Hebrew meaning, means save now, help now, or save we pray thee. It later became know to mean Save and Prosper. So the people were actually asking Jesus to save themRead More

When we completed chapter 11, it was when the high priest and his jewish council had now finally concluded that they had to kill Jesus. They had even send out a word that if anyone knew where he was, they should inform them. Jesus could no longer walk openly as a result of this. Jesus then went to a town of Ephraim where he stayed of a while. Passover was near everyone was going to Jerusalem and most were asking themselves if Jesus was going to come. John 12:1-11 (ESVST) 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Now we find Jesus at Bethany, the same place where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and also the same place were Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha stay. When Jesus arrived, they gave dinner for him. John tells us that Martha was serving and Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table to eat. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment madeRead More

2- Since Jesus paid a ransom for our past, present and future sins, does it mean this punishment in Genesis 3:16 is no longer applicable? Now we all know that Jesus paid with his life so that we don’t. We all know that Jesus died on the cross so that we don’t have to die. What was Jesus paying for, Jesus was paying for the sins that we had committed and continue to commit. Why, because the wages of sin is death and because God is just, someone had to pay for our sins if we are not going to be the ones to do it. By his mercy, God decided to send his son to die in our place and as a results our sins were forgiven and those that believe, by God’s grace and through their faith in Jesus, were reconciled once more with God, justified and adopted as sons. Jesus was able to do this because we had not yet paid for our sins. If we had already paid for our sins, there would not have been any point for Jesus to die. If we were already punished for our sins then, there would have been noRead More

Paul in 1 Cor 14:1-33a speaks of tongues and prophesies, which one is better, how each one is used, the reason for each and how they must be used in an orderly fashion in church. In verses 34-35, he speaks directly to women in church and in verses 36-40, he defends his staments that he made from verse 1-35. Our concentration in the context of our series on women, will be on verse 34-35. Some manuscripts actually puts verse 34-35 after verse 40 which means that these verses actually become verse 39-40. Wether they are in verse 34-35 or 39-40, the meaning stays the same. There has been arguments regarding the authenticity of these verses some saying that these verses contradict 1 Cor 11:5 where Paul says that women can prophesy and pray in church whereas, these verses 34-35, are saying women must not speak in church. Others say that Paul was just quoting something that the Corinthians or some of them were saying and he is rebuking it in verse 36. The debate surrounding these verses continues. Let’s look at these verses: 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 (ESVST) For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As inRead More

This is what we finally concluded in Part 2 of this series: Although, the woman was created equal but opposite to a man (Part 1), as part of the punishment, God decided that the woman will desire to control her husband but she will not succeed because, the man will have dominion or authority over her (Part 2). If the woman succeeds in controlling her husband, then God’s punishment would have failed. God changed the equal dynamics that were there by making the man an authority figure over the woman and making the woman not to like it as part of the punishment. This is God’s will. So, it is not by creation that a woman was made unequal to a man but it was by God’s sovereign decree. 1- Was this punishment between a husband and his wife only or was it between a man and a woman even outside the marriage institution? 2- Since Jesus paid a ransom for our past, present and future sins, does it mean this punishment is no longer applicable? These are now the questions that we need to answer. 1- Was this punishment between a husband and his wife only or was itRead More

In the last post we clearly showed that a woman was indeed created equal but opposite to a man. We saw that both women and men equally need each other in order to equally comply with God’s instructions of being fruitful, to multiply and rule. Something happened after the creation and this is something that we will discuss in this message. After Adam and Eve were placed into the garden, God gave them a command not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden and after the snake deceived Eve, Eve ate from the tree and gave to Adam and Adam also ate. This was in breach of God’s command. As a result God decided to punish them. We see God’s punishment to a woman in Gen 3:16 and to a man in Gen 3:17-19. After this, God chased them out of the garden. This is called “The Fall”. Gen 3:16 will be our point of discussion today. Genesis 3:16 (ESVST) To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” To the womanRead More

This is by far these days the most controversial topic in the world of Christianity. We have churches split on those that believe that men and women are equal in all respect and those that believe the opposite. There are women groups that are fighting for women’s rights with some men saying, it is unbiblical. Let’s get right into it. The first question we ask is: 1- Was a woman created subordinate to a man? What does the bible say? Let’s see. Genesis 1:27 (NIV) So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. So, we can see that when God created mankind, he created mankind in his own image. The word mankind refers to all humanity, both males and females. This is confirmed by the rest of the verse when it says, that God created them in his image and then it says again that both male and female, God created. So, three times in one verse is the statement that God created both male and female in his own image. So, now we know that in terms of creation, women were created in the sameRead More

One of the basic believes of every Christian is and should be that God is in control of everything on earth and in heaven. God is in control of both good and evil. Our consistent failure to live up to this believe, has allowed the devil to create for us man made gods such as “luck” and “coincidence”. Every good thing that happen in our lives, we give credit to our man made god called good luck and everything bad we attribute it to another god called bad luck. When we find ourselves at the right time in the right place, we attribute that to another of our gods called coincidence. This thought process or this behavior of ours does not make sense. On the other hand, we as Christians believe that God is in control but we still credit everything to our man made gods. We simply don’t know where we stand. I have seen a lot of things happen in my life good and bad that I failed to attribute to the one true God. What is worse with me was that, I attributed everything not only to good luck, bad luck or coincidence but, I was alsoRead More

John 11:45-57 (ESVST) 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. As Jesus predicted, after raising of Lazarus, many of the Jews that had come with Mary, the same Jews that were consoling her, many of these beleived. Sadly, not all of them beleived but many. Some of them that I presume were among those that did not beleive, went to the Pharisees and told them that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “ What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” As soon as they had the news of what Jesus did, the chief priest and the Pharisees had a council meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to answer this question of what are they to do. They were deeply concerned about the signs thatRead More

John 11:38-44 (ESVST) 38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. In verse 33 when Jesus saw Mary weeping, he was deeply moved in his Spirit and in verse 35, he wept. Verse 38 starts with Jesus still deeply moved. The reason for the word again is because of what I just explained about verse 33. John tells us that Jesus came to the tomb where Lazarus was laid. It was custom during that time to bury people in caves like this one. Apparently people were often buried in caves; stones, usually disk- shaped, would be rolled along a groove into place in front of the tomb, protecting its contents from animals, the elements and occasionally robbers. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “ Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Apparently in those days, as people were buried, the body would be wrapped and left lying on the floor in the tomb’s antechamber; only after a year, when the flesh had rotted off, would family members returnRead More

John 11:28-37 (ESVST) 28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. After Martha told Jesus that she beleived, she went back to the house to call Mary. She told Mary that Jesus was there and was calling her. On hearing this news, Mary rose quickly and went to meet Jesus. The important thing to note in this verse is that the Jews were at all times with Mary. So when Martha told here that Jesus was calling here, she said it in a way that only Mary could have heard her. So, she whispered. Now since the Jews did not know why she was rising up quickly and leaving them, they followed her thinking sheRead More

John 11:17-27 (ESVST) 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Here in this verse we see Jesus arriving in Bethany after he stayed two days longer accross the Jordan were he was staying after recieving the message that Lazarus was ill. John tells us that at that time, Lazarus was dead for four days already. So, there was absolutely no doubt that he was dead. John also tells us that there were Jews from Jerusalem who came to console Martha and Mary. John says that Jerusalem was about “2 miles” from Bethany. The actual Greek measurement here was a “stadion” which was about 185 meters. Now 2 miles is equated to fifteen stadia. Therefore, the distance was about 2,77km. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him but, Mary did not. So, we have Jesus and hisRead More

John 11:1-16 (ESVST) 1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. These first 2 verses are just a background information on the message we are about to hear. In these verses we are told that a certain man of Bethany called Lazarus was ill. We are told that this man had two sisters Mary and Martha. Just so we understand which Mary is being referred to, John tells us that this is the same Mary who who anointed The Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “ Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “ This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now that John has given us the background, he then tells us here that Lazarus sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him that Lazarus was ill. We leftRead More

We learned that those of us who have not yet repented from our sins and accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, are dead in our trespasses and sins in which we are walking, following the desires, temptations, evils and immoral things of this world and ultimately we are following the devil who is the spirit that works in the hearts of those that disobey God. This means if you are currently not saved, if you currently have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, the devil is working in your heart as I speak and because you live in the passions of your flesh, you carry out the desires of your body and mind, you are deserving of God’s wrath of eternal hell just like all other unbelievers. What is even scary is that we are so trapped in our trespasses and sins that on our own, we have absolutely no hope of ever getting out of the trap and freeing ourselves. In a nudshell, we are all destined to eternal hell. This is our state before we were saved and this is your state now if you have not accepted Jesus in your life as your Lord and Savior.Read More

In the last message, this is what we learned. We learned that those of us who have not yet repented from our sins and accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, are dead in our trespasses and sins in which we are walking, following the desires, temptations, evils and immoral things of this world and ultimately we are following the devil who is the spirit that works in the hearts of those that disobey God. This means if you are currently not saved, if you currently have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, the devil is working in your heart as I speak and because you live in the passions of your flesh, you carry out the desires of your body and mind, you are deserving of God’s wrath of eternal hell just like all other unbelievers. What is even scary is that we are so trapped in our trespasses and sins that on our own, we have absolutely no hope of ever getting out of the trap and freeing ourselves. In a nudshell, we are all destined to eternal hell. This is our state before we were saved and this is your state now if you have not acceptedRead More

In the past few weeks we have been discussing about sin and we have realized how sinful we are and how we ourselves are to weak to save ourselves from sin. We noted that only a divine intervention was the only way we stood a chance to be saved from God’s wrath of eternal condemnation. The good news is that there was a divine intervention and this intervention did save us. The name of that intervention was Jesus Christ. Let’s now see how this intervention was done. Paul speaking to the Christians at Ephesus through this letter. He started out in chapter 1 by explaining to them the spiritual blessings that they have recieved and those that awaits them in heaven. He then went on to give thanks and prayer for their faith. Paul then starts chapter 2:1-11 by reminding them how sinful they were and how they were saved. Ephesians 2:1-11 (ESVST) 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins The word trespass means a fault, lapse, error, mistake or wrongdoing. The word sin means to miss the mark of the standard of holiness as set and required by God. Now we know that when someone orRead More

Introduction Part of our culture as black people has always and continues to include the interaction of some form with sangomas, ancestors and traditional doctors. The form of interaction with sangomas, ancestors and traditional doctors, might be different among the respective cultures but this interaction is prevalent. How should we then as Christians relate to all of this? Can we continue to be obedient Christians and still continue with this interaction with sangomas, ancestors and traditional doctors? Scripture vs sangomas, ancestors and traditional doctors Exodus 20:3 (ESVST) “You shall have no other gods before me. Other translations say no other gods besides me. Whatever translation, the first commandment is clear, we shall have no other gods except God almighty. What does this mean? How must we understand this? Look at the following verses: 2 Kings 17:35 (ESVST) The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, The word Hebrew word used here for fear also means respect or reverence. This means that we shall not fear or bow to other gods, we shall not serve or sacrifice to them. Jeremiah 25:6 (ESVST)Read More

We are all sinners and are all deserving of going to hell. The series I did on sin has clearly indicated this to us. If you have not seen it, then go to my blog and read on it. Now that we know that we are sinners and deserve to go to hell and are on our way to hell, is there anything that we can do to save ourselves, anything? Can we even save ourselves? Let’s look at that. Is it possible for a human being on his own to realise that he is a sinner and that he needs to repent and accept Jesus as his Saviour? Is it possible? No! Human beings by nature are children of wrath. Ephesians 2:3 (ESVST) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Sinning to us as human beings comes naturally. It is not something that we learn, it is something that is in us. Disobeying God comes natural to us. So therefore by nature, we deserve God’s wrath, God’s anger. The important point hereRead More

We have learned so far that sin in the eyes of God is a failure to achieve 100% of the standard of holiness set by God. This means a failure to achieve 100% compliance to all his laws. The laws of God includes the Ten Commandments and all other laws that are found in the bible. The bible as the very word of God, contains the standard of holiness required by God, and given through the law, and how to achieve it. We have also learned so far that from the very beginning sin originated from the devil and came to the world through Adam. The devils makes you question or doubt God and God’s commandments and gives an alternative to God’s law, which he knows our weak flesh cannot resist. The devil uses the desires of the mind, the heart and the body to cause us to sin and to trap us in sin. We have also learned that everyone knows the law and through this knowledge, we realized how sinful we are. We realize this because we compare our lives, what we do or don’t do, and what we say or don’t say with what God expects fromRead More

We have learned so far that sin in the eyes of God is a failure to achieve 100% of the standard of holiness set by God. This means a failure to achieve 100% compliance to all his laws. The laws of God includes the Ten Commandments and all other laws that are found in the bible. The bible as the very word of God, contains the standard of holiness required by God, and given through the law, and how to achieve it. We have also learned so far that from the very beginning sin originated from the devil and came to the world through Adam. The devils makes you question or doubt God and God’s commandments and gives an alternative to God’s law, which he knows our weak flesh cannot resist. The devil uses the desires of the mind, the heart and the body to cause us to sin and to trap us in sin. We have also learned that everyone knows the law and through this knowledge, we realized how sinful we are. We realize this because we compare our lives, what we do or don’t do, and what we say or don’t say with what God expects fromRead More

We have learned so far that sin in the eyes of God is a failure to achieve 100% of the standard of holiness set by God. This means a failure to achieve 100% compliance to all his laws. The laws of God includes the Ten Commandments and all other laws that are found in the bible. The bible as the very word of God, contains the standard of holiness required by God, and given through the law, and how to achieve it. We have also learned so far that from the very beginning sin originated from the devil and came to the world through Adam. The devils makes you question or doubt God and God’s commandments and gives an alternative to God’s law, which he knows our weak flesh cannot resist. The devil uses the desires of the mind, the heart and the body to cause us to sin and to trap us in sin. We have also learned that everyone knows the law and through this knowledge, we realized how sinful we are. We realize this because we compare our lives, what we do or don’t do, and what we say or don’t say with what God expects fromRead More

We have learned so far that sin in the eyes of God is a failure to achieve 100% of the standard of holiness set by God. This means a failure to achieve 100% compliance to all his laws. The laws of God includes the Ten Commandments and all other laws that are found in the bible. The bible as the very word of God, contains the standard of holiness required by God, and given through the law, and how to achieve it. We have also learned so far that from the very beginning sin originated from the devil and came to the world through Adam. The devils makes you question or doubt God and God’s commandments and gives an alternative to God’s law, which he knows our weak flesh cannot resist. The devil uses the desires of the mind, the heart and the body to cause us to sin and to trap us in sin. We have also learned that everyone knows the law and through this knowledge, we realized how sinful we are. We realize this because we compare our lives, what we do or don’t do, and what we say or don’t say with what God expects fromRead More

In previous messages in this series, We have learned so far that sin in the eyes of God is a failure to achieve 100% of the standard of holiness set by God. This means a failure to achieve 100% compliance to all his laws. The laws of God includes the Ten Commandments and all other laws that are found in the bible. The bible as the very word of God, contains the standard of holiness required by God, and given through the law, and how to achieve it. We have also learned so far that from the very beginning sin originated from the devil and came to the world through Adam. The devils makes you question or doubt God and God’s commandments and gives an alternative to God’s law which he knows our weak flesh cannot resist. The devil uses the desires of the mind, the heart and the body to cause us to sin and to trap us in sin. We have also learned that everyone knows the law and through this knowledge, we realized how sinful we are. We realize this because we compare our lives, what we do or don’t do, and what we say or don’tRead More

We have learned so far that sin in the eyes of God is a failure to achieve 100% of the standard of holiness set by God. This means a failure to archive 100% compliance to all his laws. The laws of God includes the Ten Commandments and all other laws that are found in the bible. The bible as the very word of God, contains the standard of holiness required by God, and given through the law and how to achieve it. We have also learned so far that from the very beginning sin originated from the devil and came to the world through Adam. The devils makes you question or doubt God and God’s commandments and gives an alternative to God law which he knows our weak flesh cannot resist. The devil uses the desires of the mind, the heart and the body to cause us to sin and to trap us in sin. Now, how did we as humans get to know about sin. We know that sin has been in the world before the world began, and we know that sin came through Adam and Eve. How did Adam and Eve know that they have sinned? ItRead More

In the last message we defined what sin is. In this message we will concentrate on the origins of sin. We have learned in the last message that sin in the eyes of God is a failure to achieve 100% of the standard of holiness set by God. This means a failure to archive 100% compliance to all his laws. The laws of God includes the Ten Commandments and all other laws that are found in the bible. The bible as the very word of God, contains the standard of holiness required by God given through the law and how to achieve it. 2. Where did sin originate? Paul tells us in Romans 5:12-13 that sin was in the world before the law and it came to the world through one man, Adam and unfortunately also brought death with. Romans 5:12-13 (NLTse) 12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. The first people to sin was Adam and Eve. God gave themRead More

I think one of the greatest wrongs that we as Christians do is to tell people how they must repent and accept Jesus in their lives but we never really get to tell them what they must repent from and why. I want to correct that and I am simply going to talk about the very thing that seperated us from God and continues to do that even today. Sin. I will be attempting to answer 8 important questions about sin in my opinion, which I beleive will indicate to non believers why they need to repent and accept Jesus in their hearts. I ask God our father to guide me and give me strength and wisdom to relay this message in the way that would only glorify him, I ask this in Jesus name, amen. The questions I will attempt to answer are: 1. What is sin? 2. Where did sin originate? 3. How did we as human beings know of sin and got involved with sin? 4. What fuels sin or what does sin need to survive? 5. Are we as human beings sinners? 6. Where does sin reside in us? 7. What are the consequences of sin?Read More

John 10:28-29 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’ s hand. The reward of being among Jesus sheep is that he gives his sheep eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of his hand. Now I want us to look at this closely, reason being that there are people that think that once saved, a born again Christian can loose his salvation. I am going to show you using this verse that once saved always saved. A born again Christian will never loose his salvation. Let’s us look at the verbs used in verse 28: 1. I “give” them eternal life. The word used here in Greek is “didomi”. This word is used is in an indicative mood. Now the indicative mood in Greek makes an assertion of fact and is used with all six Greek tenses. Jesus used this specific word in this specific mood to indicate a fact. Therefore a Greek person listeningRead More

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (ESVST) From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. According to the flesh in the above verse means from the human point of view. Whenever the word flesh is used in the bible in most cases it means sin or things of the human world or human pointy of view as opposed to that of God or of the Holy Spirit. So what Paul is saying is that from now on, meaning from this point onwards, they regard or evaluate no one according to human view point, according to this world’s standard. Paul’s says even though they did that before and even evaluated Jesus Christ according to world standards, they no longer regard or evaluate Jesus from the human point of view. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. This verse starts with the word “therefore” indicating a continuation form the verse above. Paul is saying that since we no longer use world standards to evaluate anyone or to evaluate Jesus Christ,Read More

John 10:32-41 (ESVST) Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” In the last message after Jesus told the Jews that “I and the Father are one”, the Jews started to pick up stones in order to stone him. Jesus then asked them a question before they could stone him and said to them that he had done many good works from God, for which of them are they stoning him. Their answer was simply that they are not stoning him for the good works but rather they are stoning him because although he is a man, he makes himself equal with God. 34 Jesus answered them, “ Is it not written in your Law, ‘ I said, you are gods ’? Jesus here quotes Psalms 82:6 (ESVST) I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came —Read More

John 10:22-31 (ESVST) 22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication. It was apparently not a required pilgrimage festival, but the eight- day celebration of lights in the temple was beautiful, and many pious Jews from nearby Galilee would come to Jerusalem. It was the next festival after those immediately connected to the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Dedication was the commemoration of the dedication of the temple by Judas Maccabeus in December, 164 b. c., after it had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes. The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, which celebrates the Israelite victory over the Syrian leader Antiochus Epiphanes, who persecuted Israel. In 170 b. c. he conquered Jerusalem and desecrated the Jewish temple by setting up a pagan altar to displace the altar of God. Under the leadership of an old priest named Mattathias, the Jews fought guerrilla warfare (known as the Maccabean Revolt—166–142 b. c.) against Syria and freed the temple and the land from Syrian dominance until 63 b. c. when Rome (Pompey) took control of Palestine. It was in 164 b. c. on 25 Chislev (December approximately), that the Jews liberated theRead More

John 10:15-21 (ESVST) just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. As a continuation of our last message, Jesus is still arguing with the Pharisees and we are at a point were Jesus was telling them that, he is a good shepherd unlike them who have failed to shepherd Israel flock properly. Jesus in the above verse indicated that he knows God and God knows him and he is the kind of shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep. Jesus told them that there were other sheep who are also his sheep and he must bring these also into the fold. Jesus here is referring to the Gentiles or non Jews. These are you and me. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. IRead More

John chapter 10 starts with a parable of the good shepherd. Jesus is still in Judea and still involved since chapter 5 already, in a war of words between himself and the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders. At the end of chapter 9 Jesus told them that it would have been better for them if they were spiritually blind but, since they say that they are not, their guilt remains. John 10:1-5 is the parable of the shepherd. This parable is based mostly on Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34. We start our message with the explanation of the parable. John 10:6-15 (ESVST) This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. As indicated, Jesus realized that they did not understand the parable and decided to explain it. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “ Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Remember in John 14, Jesus said that he is the way, the truth and the life. John 14:6 (ESVST) Jesus said to him, “ I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except throughRead More

Acts 15:13-21 (NLTse) When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. 15 And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written: 16 ‘Afterward I will return and restore the fallen house of David. I will rebuild its ruins and restore it,17 so that the rest of humanity might seek the L ord, including the Gentiles—all those I have called to be mine. The L ord has spoken—18 he who made these things known so long ago. ’ In the last message we saw a lot of debates around the issue of wether the Gentiles who were being converted should also be circumcised and obey the law of Moses to be saved. Peter gave his testimony and Paul and Barnabas as well. Now, when they had finished, we see in the above verse that James stood up and addressed them. First thing James did was to remind them what Peter had told them. He reminds them how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself.Read More

Acts 15:6-12 (NLTse) So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. This matter of wether the Gentiles who were being converted must also be circumcised and obey the law of Moses to be saved, was the very reason why the first council called the Jerusalem council was convened to discuss. The question was that should non Jews or Gentiles, convert to Judaism before they can be saved. In other words, should non Jews or Gentiles over and above their salvation by grace through faith, also obey the law of Moses to be saved. In a nudshell, the question was, is salvation, by grace through faith only or by grace through faith plus the works of the law. 7 At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows:“Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. Peter here is referring to the time when God told him to go and preach to Cornelius a Centurion who was a Gentile or non Jew and his household. Peter told them that the reason why GodRead More

This message intends to shed light into what I see as a departure from what God intended with regards to the salvation of non Jews or Gentiles. God indicated through Paul that it was always his plan that Gentiles also be saved. This is the mystery that Paul refers to that has now being revealed. God by his own sovereign will, chose the nation do Israel, through whom his message will be spread to all nations. God rescued them from Egypt and through Moses, he gave them laws which included, the moral law (Ten Commandments), ceremonial laws (sacrificial and worship) and the judicial laws. These classifications are not in the bible but are just created to sort of make the distinctions easier. God made it clear that they were to obey these laws as part of the covenant we now know as the old covenant. Exodus 19:4-8 (ESVST) You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles ‘wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;Read More

God says and this is our main message: Psalms 37:7 (ESVST) Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! At the beginning of this psalm 37, in verse 1-2, God says that we must avoid being angry because of evil doers because these will soon fade and wither. In verse 3, God says we must trust in him, do good and be faithful. In verse 4, God says we must take pleasure in him and he will give us the desires of our hearts. Then in verse 5-6, God summarizes what verses 3-4 are saying: Psalms 37:5-6 (NLTse) Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. 6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. This then brings us to our verse today which is verse 7, it start by saying be still before The Lord and wait patiently for him. God after saying to us in verses 1-6 that we should commit everything to him and trust in himRead More

If only I could have waited just a second more, I could have avoided the accident. If I had waited just a second longer, I would have avoided all this mess that I find myself in. If I had just took a second to calm down and think, I would have avoided my divorce, I would have avoided loosing my children, my loved ones or I would have avoided going to jail. If I only waited till I was married to have sex, I would not have jeopardized my future and the future of my baby that I would not have had, had I just being patient. These are the kinds of staments we make after realizing that our lack of patience has led us to rush and do things we would not have done ordinarily. I hear people complaining all the time how God does not answer their prayers and how he is taking too long to act. The good thing about this statement is that, people do acknowledge that God does answer our prayers but, they don’t like the time it takes him to answer. Most of the time, people don’t like the type of answer they get.Read More

We said in the previous message, in Part 1, that Jesus Christ is the wisdom and power of God to those that are being saved. Those that are perishing, stumbling block or foolishness. Paul challenged the wise and intelligent of this world and showed that God chose what was considered foolish by the world, to be the very thing that brought the knowledge of God to those that beleived and that was through the preaching. 1 Corinthians 1:25-31 (ESVST) For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Now Paul here is saying, God at his maximum foolishness, is still wiser than men. Paul also says that God at his maximum weakness, he is still stronger than men. This simply shows that no matter how wise a person thinks he is or no matter how strong a person thinks he is, he does not even come close to God’s maximum weakness and foolishness. So, this simply means that any person who thinks that they can outsmart or out muscle God, are completely foolish. 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not manyRead More

Let us look at the first book of Corinthians chapter 1 from verse 18-31. In this first part we will look at verses 18-21. From verse 10-17 of this chapter, Paul addresses the issue of divisions Within the church. It appears that Christians at Corinth were dividing themselves up into those following Paul, Apolos and Peter. It appears it had something to do with who baptized them, hence Paul says that he is happy that he baptized none of them except for the two that he mentions. He then in verse 17 told them that he was not sent to baptize but to preach the word of God. Not only to preach but, not preach with clever speeches which might render the cross of Jesus Christ powerless. This leads to our verse to day, verse 18. 1 Corinthians 1:18-24 (ESVST) 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” After Paul made it clear that he is here not toRead More

John 9:34-41 (ESVST) They answered him, “ You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. After the used to be blind men gave reasons why the Pharisees and the leaders of the church should have known that Jesus was fom God because of what he is doing. They continued to insult him by saying that he was born in utter sin, indicating that because he was born blind, then he was born in sin because his parents must have sinned for him to be like that. They then said since he was born in sin and a sinner himself, what can he teach them. This shows how ignorant and empty the Pharisees and the leaders were when it came to scripture. Even after the man referred them to scripture, they still were too spiritually blind to see. Instead they chased him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “ And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “ You have seen him, and itRead More

John 9:24-33 (ESVST) So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “ Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” After the Pharisees and the church leaders got confirmation from the parents of the blind man that he was born blind and now he sees. The Jews still did not believe fully and had doubts. The parents told them that they cannot speak for the man as he is old enough to speak for himself. We know that the parents did this out of fear. The Pharisees and leaders then called the man and again asked him to give glory to God. This could mean two things, either this meant that he should stop saying that Jesus healed him and say that it was God since they know that Jesus is a sinner or it could mean that the man should stop lying and give glory to God by not lying about what Jesus did. The second one seems more likely in that they said that they knew that Jesus was a sinner and already have decided that he could not have made this man who wasRead More

John 9:13-23 (ESVST) They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. In our last message, Jesus had just healed a man who was born blind and this caused a lot of unbelief amongst the people. There was so much unbelief that this man was no longer blind to the extent that even when he told them that it is him, they still denied it. After questioning the formerly blind man, they decided to take him to the Pharisees. Now the Pharisees were among the leaders of the church. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. It is important to understand that on sabbath, according to Jewish law, no one does healing except if it was a life threatening. Remember in chapter 5 when the Jews wanted to kill Jesus because he broke the rules of sabbath by healing a man on sabbath. So, it was well known that Jewish law forbid healing or any work on sabbath. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”Read More

John 9:1-12(ESVST) 1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. Jesus is still in Judea after he escaped from the Jews who wanted to stone him for saying that they are not the sons of Abraham but of the devil. Jesus also told them that he was there even before Abraham was and that he was the “I am” the name used to refer to God. After he escaped and as he was passing by, he saw a blind man who was born blind. 2 And his disciples asked him, “ Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Now the scriptures tells us that sometimes when a man is sick, it is because the man must have committed some sort of sin that led him to be sick, 1 Cor. 11:30; James 5:15. Although true, this is not alway the case, 2 Cor. 12:7; Gal. 4:13, also Job was sick not because he had committed sin but because God wanted to show the devil that Job will not turn away from him. So the Jews had this believe that some sickness was there because one had committed sin. This isRead More

In the previous messages we attempted to answer the question of: now that I am saved, now what?. We chose 2 Peter 2:1-15 as the message we will use to try and answer this question. In part 1 and 2, we dealt with verses 1-9 and these verses told us that once we are saved, we need to increase our knowledge of Jesus Christ through the word of God. Not only that we then need to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self control,patience, godliness, kindness and love. This will make us effective and productive as we increase in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. We said that the message will be divided into six topics: the source of our faith, the call for growth in faith, the benefits of growth in faith, the encouragement, the reminder and lastly the duty to recall. We have already death with the first three topics and in this last message, we will deal with the remaining three. THE ENCOURAGEMENT 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided forRead More

This is part 2 of our message on what to do now that I am saved. In part one we managed to do verse 1 up to 4 and we heard that God called us to himself and by his divine power, gave us all that we need to live a godly life through our knowledge of Jesus Christ, and gave us promises so that we can be like him and have eternal life in heaven. God gave us all things by his divine power and gave us promises of eternal life by his glory and moral excellence. Our part is to increase in our knowledge of him and through the faith that we obtained through our Lord Jesus Christ. This therefore means that once we are saved, the first step is to dedicate most of our time reading and understanding the word of God. In short, spend most of your time reading and understanding the bible so that you knowledge of God and of Jesus can increase. We said that the message will be divided into six topics: the source of our faith, the call for growth in faith, the benefits of growth in faith, the encouragement, the reminderRead More

This is a question that most newly born again Christians most often ask. I know I also asked the same question when I was saved. Now that I am saved, what is the next step, what is that I must do on a day to day basis. What can I do to grow in the faith, to mature in the faith and stay strong in the faith. Jesus requires us to bear fruits, how do I do that? I will attempt to answer this question as best as the Holy Spirit may guide me. May the Holy Spirit guide me and allow me to answer this question in a way that glorifies the name of God. In Jesus name, amen. Just as a background to this message on 2 Peter. Peter was writing this epistle after his growing concerns with false teachers that were gaining momentum and wanted to encourage the believers to stay and trust in the word of God. 2 Peter talks about the truth of scripture and the genuiness of prophecy in chapter 1. In chapter 2 about false teacher and in chapter 3 about the day of The Lord that will come. Let’s look at ourRead More

The purpose of Jesus death and resurrection was to create a way for us human beings who have continuously and consistently sinned against God, to be reconciled to our creator, our Father. As Paul says in Romans that sin came by one man and so will by one man all be saved. Jesus through his death, paid the complete ransom for us and removed us from death row and gave us a way back to eternal life. God is just and for the sins that we committed, we had and we were on our way to eternal death but Jesus died on our behalf. Now, all that God requires is the believe in his Son. John 6:40 (ESVST) For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” When we believe, God justifies us through that faith in Jesus. God makes us holy and blameless through our faith in Jesus Christ. There are 6 things that justification by faith has given us, peace with God, grace of God, hope of the glory of God, Holy Spirit, salvationRead More

John 8:48-59 (ESVST) 48 The Jews answered him, “ Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus is still engaging with what I believe was a very heated debate with the Jews at the temple in Judea. Jesus in the verses above this one had just told the Jews that they are sons of the devil and murderous just like him since they wanted to kill him. The Jews replied by asking him that are they not right by saying that he is a Samaritan and has a demon. Now the Jews and Samaritans were almost one can say enemies. The Jews hated the Samaritans since they were Jews who intermarried with pagans and adopted their religion. Samaritans insulted the temple and challenged the Jewish people’s exclusive heritage in Abraham. So, they were saying that Jesus was a Samaritan because he is also saying that they are not children of Abraham but are of the devil. Secondly in John 7:20, they had already accused Jesus of having a demon and they were again saying the same thing. By this the Jews meant that Jesus was insane because he was possessed by aRead More

John 8:37-47 (ESVST) I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” Jesus here is still in a conversation or more of an argument with the Jews. Jesus had told them that if they were truly his disciples, they would abide in his word and they will know the truth and the truth will set them free. The Jews replied and said that they were offsprings of Abraham and were never slaves to anyone. Jesus starts this verse by saying that he acknowledged that they were offsprings of Abraham but then he told them that even though they are, they seek to kill him because his words find no place in him. What Jesus meant was that his words finds no place in their hearts. They are unable to accept his words. His words finds no room in their hears. Jesus then tells them that what He is talking about he has seen but what they are doing, they heard from their father, referring here toRead More

John 8:31-36 (ESVST) 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “ If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus is still in Judea at the temple where he was attending the feast of booths that had ended but he remained preaching to those that were there and since cheater 5 after Jesus healed a man on sabbath, Jesus has had to defend his authority and defend his testimony against the Pharisees and the Chief priest who according to John 5:18, already wanted to kill him for breaking sabbath and making himself equal with God. In verse 29 in this chapter, just before the verse above, John tell us that many believed in him. Here Jesus is talking to those who believed in him and he says the next step to prove indeed that you are genuinely and truly his disciple, it is to abide in his word. The word abide in Greek “meno” which means to continuously remain or to endure or to persevere. Jesus is saying continuously remaining and enduring the word of God is an indicationRead More

John 8:21-30 (ESVST) So he said to them again, “ I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” Jesus is still in Judea at the temple. The feast of booth has ended and Jesus was preaching to those who were there. He had just told them that he is the light of the world. The above verse starts by saying “So he said to them again,”, this is as I have just sated that he had just finished telling them that he was the light of the world. Jesus again told them that he was going away to heaven and they will look for him and those who did not believe in him, will die in their sins. Jesus told them that where he is going they cannot come. They cannot come because he is going to heaven and in heaven, only those that believe may enter. 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘ Where I am going, you cannot come ’?” 23 He said to them, “ You are from below; I am from above. You are ofRead More

Yes, indeed there are Christians who think that God is a liar. I am talking about those that have accepted Jesus as their savior and have been baptized. The sad thing is that within the Christian community, these people are more in numbers than those that believe that God is not a liar. It is shocking that we have more Christians thinking God is a liar, accusing God of making false promises and not believing that God is capable of doing what he claims he can do. Yet if you ask these people if they love God, they will say they do. Yet if you ask these people if the are born again, they say, yes. Yet they simply don’t trust God. Some even go as far as to say, you cannot completely leave everything to God, you have to do something in case he fails to follow through in his promises. Let’s look at some of the things that God has promised us: – God said that he opens doors that are closed and shut those that are open and what he has opened cannot be shut and viceversa. Rev 3:7 – God said he will protect us andRead More

God uses his word to call his children back to himself. Jesus came here to fulfill God’s plan to save us from eternal spiritual death and to brings us back to eternal spiritual life. Jesus’s death and resurrection was the ransom that was required to remove us from eternal spiritual death row. Those of us who believe in Jesus are saved and promised eternal life in heaven. We have confidence in this hope of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Our message which we find from Hebrews 10:19-39 speaks to believers and apostates. Apostates are those who have complete understanding in the word of God and still turn their back on God. They are not believers, they fall short of believing. Verses 19-25 talks to believers and verses 26-38, talks to apostates. Verse 39, talks to believers. An outline of this passage aka four topics – the privilege – the encouragement – the warning – the reminder THE PRIVILEGE OF BELIEVERS Hebrews 10:19-39 (ESVST) 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, throughRead More

Jesus at the beginning of Matthews chapter 13 was sitting by the sea when he saw a crowd coming towards him. He went into a boat and sat there and started teaching them. He started by telling them the parable of the sower. To sow in Greek means to scatter seed. So, the sower is someone who scatters seed. To scatter is to throw in various random directions. So, Jesus was telling them about a person who just took seed and threw it randomly or all over the place without checking were the seed will fall. In those days seed was scattered by hand. A method which, by its nature, left some to fall on unproductive ground. In Eastern practice the seed was sometimes sown first and the field plowed afterward. Roads and pathways crisscrossed many fields, and the traffic made much of the surface too hard for the seed to take root. Jesus used this practical thing that the Israelites did everyday and were aware of to teach them. This is the parable that he told them: Matthew 13:3-9 (ESVST) And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as heRead More

John 8:12-20 (ESVST) 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “ I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus is still in Judea at the temple teaching. Jesus continued with his teaching and this time said to them that he is the light of the world. You would remember in chapter 7:37-39, that Jesus told them before that whoever is thirsty must come to him and drink and whoever believed in him out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. This he said using one of the activities that happened during the feast of booths were water was drawn from the pool of Siloam by the priests. As the priests did this, they recited Isaiah 12:3 which talked about drawing water from the wells of salvation. He was using this activity to teach. Now, Jesus is using another activity that happening at the feast to teach. The Feast of Tabernacles included spectacular ceremonies that symbolized multiple themes:harvest, drought, the coming winter darkness and the desert wandering after the exodus. Four stands, each holding four golden bowls, were placed in the heavily used courtRead More

John 8:1-11 (ESVST) 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. Jesus is still in Judea on the lat day of the feast of booths. This is towards the end of the last day of the feast after the officers who were sent by the high priest and the Pharisees failed to arrest him since they felt that no one ever spoke like Jesus did. When they reported this to the Pharisees, they were very angry with them. After this all went to each one’s house and Jesus according to the verse above, went instead to the Mount of olives were he spend the night. The Mount of Olives is “the mountain which is east of the city” of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 11:23). Only the half- mile- wide Kidron Valley separates the Holy City from the mountain. In reality there are three distinctly marked, rounded summits on the two- mile ridge:Mount Scopus on the north, the “Mount of Offense” on the south, and the Mount of Olives in the center. The central mountain stands 2,680 feetRead More

John 7:45-53 (ESVST) The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “ Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The officers were sent by the Pharisees and the chief priests to arrest Jesus. Remember that these officers were sent to arrest him in vs 32 because the people were starting to question why the authorities were not arresting Jesus. The people were saying maybe this is indeed the Christ and the authorities know that and that is why they don’t arrest him. This made the authorities to send officers to arrest him. So, from verse 32 to 44, the officers heard Jesus’s teaching. They decided not to arrest Jesus and when asked why, they simply said, no one has ever spoken like Jesus does. Look how Matthew describes Jesus’s teaching. No wonder why the officers could not arrest him. Matthew 7:29 (ESVST) for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd thatRead More

John 7:37-44 (ESVST) 37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “ If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. On the last day of the feast. Remember that the feast that John is talking about here is the feast of booths. The word “booths” is a feminine singular noun meaning a booth, a thicket. This term is used for temporary shelters used to cover animals (Gen. 33:17); warriors (2 Sam. 11:11); and the prophet Jonah (Jon. 4:5). A specialized usage is employed for booths constructed for the fall harvest festival (Lev. 23:42, 43). The festival was known as the hag hassukkôt (H2282), the Feast of Booths (Deut. 16:13, 16). This was to remind the Israelites that they lived in booths when the Lord brought them up from Egypt (Lev. 23:43). This festival was held every on the 15th day of the 7th months for seven days and on the 8th day, they would hold a holy gathering and give food offerings to God. So, on the last day here may refer to the 8th day. On this day, which John calls the great day, Jesus stood up andRead More

In the last message we have dealt with the Abrahamic and the Mosaic Covenants and in this message we will deal with the Grace Covenant. THE GRACE OR AS COMMONLY KNOWN, THE NEW COVENANT The contents of the agreement between God, Israel and the Gentiles (as we know that this covenant is inclusive of Gentiles or Non Jews as well), are: Jeremiah 31:33-34 (ESVST) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘ Know the Lord, ’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Notice how we only have the letter “I” which represents God and we see nothing of the word “you”. This is what we can call today as “a one man contract”. God is making an agreement with himself.Read More

To those that understand the doctrine of predestination, I just want to say, I am aware of that and take that in mind. If you don’t know it, don’t worry. I say this because it just continues to concern me why we keep holding on to a dead covenant or agreement. There are predominantly 3 covenants that God made with people. The Abrahamic, The Mosaic and the Grace Covenants or agreements. The Abrahamic covenant as the name says, was made with Abraham, The Mosaic with the Israelites through Moses and The Grace with Israel for everyone through Christ. John 1:17 (ESVST) For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT The contents of the agreement between God and Abraham are: Genesis 17:4-10 (ESVST) 4 “ Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And IRead More

Jesus is still in Judea at the feast of booths after telling his brothers to go, he went alone and in private. According to the above verse, in the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began to preach. The feast of booths was every seventh month on the fifteenth, for seven days. So, in the middle of the feats meant after about 3 days. In the last message, Jesus was accusing the Jews of being hypocrites who want to kill him for the very same thing that they were doing. Jesus told them to judge rightly when they judge. John 7:25-36 (ESVST) 25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “ Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? The above verses signifies that the people were starting to doubt even the authorities. They knew that the authorities wanted Jesus dead which confirms what Jesus was accusing them of. What the people could not understand was that, if they want to kill him, how come heRead More

Christianity was completely shocked this week by the emergence of the videos and pictures of people eating grass. It is alleged that their pastor had told them that it is how to get closer to God. Wether indeed their pastor told them that or not, I don’t know but, what I do know is that, they did eat grass. Yes, this might have shocked us but, equally shocking, there are other “pastors or prophets or apostles” who give people water, oil or other things, claiming that they have prayed for them and those things will either heal them, give them jobs, promotions at work, healthy marriages, breakthroughs in life and God knows what else. These people make a lot of money selling these things to desperate and obviously people without enough or correct information as to how God works. These people are false pastors, teachers, etc. I will not name names because it is not my business to judge those outside the church but that is for God to do. I regard these false pastors, preachers, etc, as outside the church since what they are doing is outside scripture. So, I will let them be. 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (ESVST) ForRead More

John 7:14-24 (ESVST) About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “ How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” Jesus is still in Judea at the feast of booths after telling his brothers to go, he went alone and in private. According to the above verse, in the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began to preach. The feast of booths was every seventh month on the fifteenth, for seven days. So, in the middle of the feats meant after about 3 days. The Jews were marveled at his teaching. The word “marveled” is a Greek word “thaumazo” meaning to wonder or admire. g2296. θαυμαζω thaumazo; from 2295; to wonder; by implication, to admire:— admire, have in admiration, marvel, wonder. The Jews were pretty much admiring, were amazed and wondered at the words that he was saying. They asked themselves that how can Jesus know so much about scripture if he has not studied it. Most children in the Greco- Roman world could not afford even a primary education. But Palestinian Jewish children, except perhaps fromRead More

John 7:1-13 (ESVST) 1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. By the end of chapter 6, we left Jesus in Capernaum in Galillee. Capernaum was one of the places in Galillee. The above verse starts with the words “after this”. Verse 2 below says that, the feast of booths was at hand. Since we know at the beginning of chapter 6 that it was Passover or Passover was near, then it means that about six months had passed between chapter 5 and 6. For the first time in John, we see that the Jews wanted to kill Jesus and as a result he could not go into Judea. The reason why he could not go into Judea but stayed in Galillee was that in Jesus’ day, Galilee and Judea were under separate jurisdictions (that of Antipas and the Roman prefect, respectively), so that someone in trouble in one part of the country would be safer to remain in the other part. In John’s day, regional religious differences seem to have been increasing, with Christians being concentrated in Galilee and the rabbinic movement gaining moreRead More

In this message, we find Jesus still on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee or the sea of Tiberius. This is after he had fed the 5000 with barley loaves and fish. John 6:16-29 (ESVST) 16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. We know from reading Matthews that Jesus is the one who said that they must go across the sea to Capernaum. Jesus however did not go with them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. John does not dwell much on this event. We know from Luke and Matthew that more took place in this event but for John, it wasRead More

Right at the beginning of chapter 6, we find Jesus whom we left in chapter 5 in Jerusalem, now on the other side of the sea of Galilee also known as the Sea of Tiberius. John does not tell us the exact place Jesus was at, but on the other side of the Sea of Galilee you find places like Gadara, Abilene, Dion, Bethsaida and even further inland Naveh. Most of these places were in the current country of the now Syria with an exception of Gadara which was just at the north of the current country of Jordan. Wether these places are still called by these names in Syria and Jordan today, I am not sure. Anyway, Jesus was on probably one of these places on the other side or on the eastern side of the sea of Tiberius. John 6:1-15 (ESVST) 1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. Now, this verse begins with the words “After this”, verse 4 which we will discuss just now, says that Passover which is one of the feast of Jews was at hand, meaning was near. Now weRead More

In the Old Testament when God established the judicial law for Israel, one of the things that God did was to establish a way that the truth can be verified. If someone was accused of anything, how the judges would know that it was true. The system that God established was what we would call today as eye witness testimony but, it did not end there, God required that there must be a minimum of two eye witnesses before any accusation can be determined as true. See the verse below: Deuteronomy 19:15 (ESVST) Laws Concerning Witnesses 15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. If you read further on from verse 16-21, you will realize that God made provision on how to identify and deal with a false witness. However, that is not part of the discussion today. The important message to get is that only on the evidence of two or more witnesses shall the truth be determined and accepted to be true. Having thisRead More

In our last message, we were busy with Luke 23:39-43 and we had just finished discussing the first part of verse 40 were one of the criminals who was crucified with Jesus was reprimanding his fellow criminal for mocking Jesus. The first question that he asked was if by mocking Jesus like this, did he not fear God. I highlighted that there were four very important points that were made by the robber who was reprimanding and fear of God was the first one. I have already discussed the fear of God and now we will go to the second point that he made. Luke 23:39-43 (ESVST) One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “ Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “ Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “ Truly, I say to you, today you willRead More

Taking a break from our study of the Gospel of John, I thought we should look at this very wonderful passage that I believe shows the greatest mercy and grace that has ever being bestowed on us. Not only does it show the grace but it also shows the true meaning of what the Grace of God is all about. There are such a lot of controversies regarding the grace of God and I believe this passage we will be looking at, will show beyond doubt how great, powerful and loving the grace of God is. We find ourselves in Golgotha (place of skull) on the day Jesus was crucified. Now, a little history about crucifixion: Crucifixion was one of the most cruel and barbarous forms of death known to man. It was practiced, especially in times of war, by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Egyptians, and later by the Romans. So dreaded was it that even in the pre- Christian era, the cares and troubles of life were often compared to a cross. The agony of the crucified victim was brought about by (1) the painful but nonfatal character of the wounds inflicted, (2) the abnormal position of the body, theRead More

In our last message, we saw Jesus healing a man on sabbath and telling him to take his bed and go. We saw that when the Jews saw this, they were very angry as according to them what Jesus did was a betrayal of the sabbath. Jesus answered them and said that when God is working, so does his Son. The Jews did not like it at all and they sought to kill him of making himself equal to God and breaking the sabbath law. Now Jesus was not just going to live the whole thing like that without explaining and therefore in the next passage, Jesus explains himself. John 5:19-29 (ESVST) 19 So Jesus said to them, “ Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. Jesus here says that the Son of God, which he is, can do nothing out of his ownRead More

In our last message we saw Jesus in Jerusalem at a pool called Bethesda where he healed a man who was paralyzed for 38 yrs. Jesus did this on a Sabbath. We did highlight that Sabbath was the day the God had decided that the Jews will remember and keep holy. God said no work should be done on that day. Now let’s see in the next message why it was so important to mention that it was Sabbath. John 5:10-18 (ESVST) So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” The law of Sabbath as given by God through Moses and did state that no work should be done on the sabbath however, it did not stipulate what kind of work. It is safe and makes sense to assume that this refered to one’s daily duties that one did throughout the week. However, “completely no work whatsoever” is how the Jews interpreted this. Jews went as far as to say you cannot even heal or cure a person on sabbath unless it is life threatening. You cannot so far as pickRead More

John 5:1-9 (ESVST) 1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. By “after this” refers to after Jesus had healed the official’s son from Capernaum. You will remember that the last act Jesus did in chapter 4 was to heal this official’s son while he was in Cana in Galilee. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. A reference to the gate identified in Neh. 3:1 32 12:39. It was a small opening in the north wall of the city, just west of the northeast corner. Although scholars do not agree on the site of Bethesda (or its exact spelling), the site most scholars currently favor is under St. Anne’s Monastery in Jerusalem. This site had two twin pools, surrounded by four porches, or porticoes, and one porch down the middle separating the pools. Although John writes after Jerusalem was destroyed in 70, his recollection of the site is accurate. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids — blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty- eight years. TheRead More

John 4:43-54 (ESVST) After the two days he departed for Galilee. Here we see now Jesus leaving Samaria where he was invited to stay by the Samaritans after they believed. Jesus as initially intended, is now leaving for Galilee. Remember that when he left Jerusalem, that was his intention to go to Galilee but had to go via Samaritan. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) Jesus said this when he was at Nazareth, his hometown after he was rejected there. Mat 13:53-58. 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. This verse starts with the word “So”, indicating that Jesus is contrasting the belief of the Samaritans with that one of Galileans. The Samaritans believed because of the word of God but the Galileans were believing because of that signs and miracles that he was doing. The only reason why they welcome him was because of all the signs and miracles he did in Jerusalem. They saw the signs and miracles that Jesus did because they wereRead More

Greetings to all. The message I want to send today is with regards to how we as Christians have to behave towards a sitting government. How must Christian behave towards the authority given to and exercised by a government. The reason why I am raising this, it is because of the current E-toll system that will be live and up and running as from tomorrow the 3rd of December 2013. Most people are saying they will not buy etags, others are saying they will not even pay the fines. Now, as far as I understand, you do have a choice wether to buy an etag or not, however, when you do use the roads, you must pay. You do not have a choice on wether to pay or not and failure to pay is an offense in terms of Section 27-29 of the Sanral Act. This will lead to imprisonment and/or fine and a civil fine of R1000. Section 29 also talks about the demerit system that may be applied to you if you do not pay. This is as far as I know. So, refusing to pay is an offence but refusing to buy etag, is your choice. NowRead More

Our last message we saw Jesus and the Samaritan woman ending their conversation with Jesus saying to her that the Christ or the Messiah that she was waiting for has arrived and it is he. This was the first time that Jesus had introduced himself as the Messiah. John 4:27-42 (ESVST) Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “ What do you seek?” or, “ Why are you talking with her?” Jewish belief warned men not to talk much with women (some rabbis added, even with one’s own wife!), both because of temptation and because of what others might think. The disciples are amazed yet trust their teacher enough not to ask about this situation is a sign of their respect for him, an attitude considered appropriate for faithful disciples. 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “ Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him. After the woman heard Jesus say that he isRead More

We left the previous message where the Samaritan woman was saying to Jesus that the Jews think that Jerusalem is the only place of worship while they as Samaritans think the mountain was the place of worship. Let’s look at how Jesus responds to this statement. 21 Jesus said to her, “ Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. Jesus says the time will come when it will no longer even matter wether you worship in Jerusalem or the mountain. So, there is no point in debating the location. Now, since the woman had already established that he is a prophet, she had to listen to what he says. This was the norm then. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. Jesus here acknowledges the Jewish position. Jesus acknowledges that the Jews have the correct version of salvation but not because he is a Jew but simply because it is true. We know that salvation came from the Jews. Romans 3:2 (ESVST) Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with theRead More

In our last message,the Samaritan woman had just asked Jesus to give here the living waters so that she might no longer be thirsty and no longer have to come to the well. 16 Jesus said to her, “ Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband ’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” Now that Jesus has drawn the woman’s attention and has given her a better offer of the living gospel. Lesson number 3, Jesus now brings her to realize that she is a sinner. Unless a person realizes that they are sinners, why would they want to repent? Jesus then tells her to get her husband. The woman replies by saying that I have no husband. Then Jesus really makes it clear to her how sinful she is. Jesus says to her, you are correct, you don’t have a husband and the one you have right now, is not your husband. What is worse, you had five husbands already.Read More

In our last message we pretty much was studying history of Jews and Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered her, “ If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘ Give me a drink, ’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” This is a very difficult verse to explain. I will try my best. Firstly Jesus says, if you knew the gift of God. Let’s stop here. What gift is Jesus talking about and how would the woman have understood it. Let’s look at it. Acts 2:38 (ESVST) And Peter said to them, “ Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:17-20 (ESVST) Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles ‘hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “ Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But PeterRead More

John 4:1-26 (ESVST) Chapter 4 Jesus and the Woman of Samaria 1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. In our last message, John had just explained to his disciples why he must decrease and why Jesus must increase. This was when John’s disciples were concerned that Jesus was baptizing and more people were going to him. John went on further to give testimony that Jesus was indeed the son of God that was sent by God and his words is from God and his words are true and those who believe in him will have eternal life. Now. Here at he beginning of chapter 4, we see Jesus still at Judea but now leaving for Galilee. John says that the reason why Jesus was leaving was that he had heard that the Pharisees had heard that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John the Baptist. Although Jesus was not baptizing himself but his disciples were, it is clear that this was a good enough reasonRead More

In our last message. John the Baptist was explaining to his disciples who were concerned that Jesus and his disciples were baptizing and people were joining them. I suppose they were concerned about the competition John 3:30-36 (ESVST) He must increase, but I must decrease.” 31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. Again here John continues to make a point that Jesus is not only before him but, Jesus is from above, meaning from heaven, from God. John says because he comes from above, he is above all. John then turns to himself and says be cause he comes from earth, he belongs to earth and speaks in an earthly way. This indicating that he says that Jesus is above him as well as Jesus is from above and he is from earth. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. Supporting exactly what Jesus said to Nicodemus, John says thatRead More

If I were to give this passage a title, I would call it “Who’s the boss?”. In this passage John the Baptist makes it very clear to us and to everyone else, who between him and Jesus is the boss. Who between him and Jesus is in charge. Let’s look at it. John 3:22-30 (ESVST) 22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison). After speaking to Nicodemus in Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside. He remained there with his disciples and was baptizing. We are told here that John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim. Now the reason we are told why John was baptizing at this place was that there was plenty of water there. Aenon was on the border of Samaria and Galilee across and near the river Jordan. So, here we find both Jesus and his disciples and John baptizing. 25 Now a discussion arose between some ofRead More

In our last message on this passage, we left Jesus saying to Nicodemus that just like Moses lifted up a bronze serpent so that those that looked up to it could live, so must the Son of Man also be lifted up so that those who believe in him should have eternal life. We then now continue with verse 16. 16 “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Verse 16-18 is a further expansion by Jesus on why he was talking about the serpent. You must remember that the reason why Moses made a bronze serpent was at the instruction of God, after God sent fiery serpent to bite the Israelites after complaining about everything that God was doing for them. The bronze serpent was thereRead More

We left the last time the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus where Jesus was telling Nicodemus that unless he is born from above, that is, unless he is born of water and spirit, he will not enter the kingdom of God. Seeing that Nicodemus is confused, Jesus then said to him, do not wonder for spiritual things are difficult to understand if you are still in the flesh. Flesh gives birth to flesh and spirit gives birth to spirit. 9 Nicodemus said to him, “ How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “ Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Nicodmeus asked Jesus how these things can be. He simply was amazed or even maybe shocked at what Jesus was saying. He is probably thinking but how come I don’t know these things. How can this man be saying these things? Jesus then says to him, how can you be a teacher of Israel but you don’t know these things. Nicodemus was a member of the highest court and council in the land and also a renowned and respected teacher of the law, that is, the Old Testament. Since the NewRead More

We left our previous message in verse 3 after Jesus told Nicodemus that unless one is born from above, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. I am sure this was very confusing to Nicodemus and you can expect. 4 Nicodemus said to him, “ How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother ‘s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. As expected, Nicodemus was very confused and asked Jesus how can a man be born when he is old. Now I want to highlight here that Nicodemus does not ask how can a man be born again. The word again is not in the verse as most people like to believe. He continues to ask Jesus if a man can enter into his mother’s womb and be born? Again here Nicodemus never uses the word ” again”. He is simply using the word born andRead More

It is very good to see how time flies when you’re having fun. I mean just a week or so ago we undertook the journey to go through the bible verse by verse and we started with the Gospel of John. Now, we are already starting Chapter 3. I admit that we could go even deeper into some of these verses but, I don’t want to complicate God’s word with to much information. I just want everyone to understand what they word is saying. Now, at the end of chapter 2, we left Jesus in Jerusalem at the Passover. This is where he chased everyone who was trading in the temple, out of the temple. We also saw pretty much his first confrontation with the Jews or specifically the Pharisees when they questioned his authority to chase people away. We saw Jesus telling them that they can destroy the temple and he will raise it in three days. Obviously referring to his death but the Jews failed to see that. Now at the beginning of Chapter 3, Jesus is still in Jerusalem and we see a Pharisees by the name of Nicodemus visiting Jesus in the night and asking questions.Read More

In our last message, we saw Jesus at the wedding in Cana in Galilee on invitation. We also saw him change water into wine. At the end of the wedding they all left for Capernaum and stayed there for a few days. In today’s passage we now see him in Jerusalem for the Passover. John 2:13-25 (ESVST) 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. What is Passover and why did Jesus go to Jerusalem to attend it. Passover commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt when the angel of death “passed over” Jewish homes in Egypt whose “doorposts” were sprinkled with blood (Ex. 12:23–27). Jews selected the lamb on the tenth of the month, and celebrated Passover on the fourteenth day of the lunar month of Nisan (full moon at the end of March or beginning of April). They slaughtered the lamb between 3:00 and 6:00 p. m. on the night of the feast. Jesus’ journeying to Jerusalem for the Passover was a standard annual procedure for every devout Jewish male over 12 years old (Ex. 23:14–17). Jewish pilgrims crowded into Jerusalem for this greatest of Jewish feasts. 14Read More

In Today’s message we find our Lord Jesus still in Galilee. Chapter 1 ended with the calling of Nathaniel as a disciple. The outline of this passage is basically three things, 1. the mother’s request, 2. the miracle and 3. the confirmation of the miracle. 1. The Mother’s request John 2:1-12 (ESVST) 1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. Still in Galilee, Jesus and his disciples attend a wedding in Cana. Cana is a town or place in Galilee. Cana of Galilee is mentioned four times in the gospel of John (2:1, 11; 4:46; 21:2) and nowhere else in Scripture. It was in the highlands of Galilee, as one had to go “down” from there to Capernaum, but opinions differ as to its exact location. It may have been at Kefr Kenna, about five miles (eight km.) NE of Nazareth, or at Khirbet Kana, a little farther north.John tells us that Jesus’s mother Mary was also there. Now the reason why Jesus went was because he was invited. 3 When the wine ran out, the motherRead More

Today’s message is John 1:35-51. Here we see Jesus starting to call his disciples. I think just from the beginning I must say this, the account of how the first disciples were called differs from Matthew to John. I know that Matthew, Mark, John and Luke, all had different purposes of writing their gospels and based on that purpose, they chose to write about the events during Jesus’s time that will highlight their point. This will obviously lead to different details or events being used by either of them. Even with that, the difference between Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11 and John 1:35-42 are extremely confusing. Most people say that they even contradict. Now , I can accept that they are confusing but I refuse to accept that they are contradicting. Simply because the bible was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit cannot contradict itself. The fact that we don’t understand or we find these passages confusing, does not mean that these writers also are confused. Some things we may never understand while we are still alive. We have to learn to live with it. All I can say about this is that,Read More

In the last message, we ended with John 1:23, where John had just told the priest and the Levites who were send to ask him who he is that he is the voice of the one crying in the wilderness as Isaiah said. Simply telling them that he is the forerunner of Christ. They were sent to ask him this because he was going around the regions of Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance. 24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “ I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” Now we are told here in verse 24 that these men were sent by the Pharisees. Who are the Pharisees? Of the three prominent parties of Judaism at the time of Christ– Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes– the Pharisees were by far the most influential. The name “Pharisee,” which in its Semitic form means “the separated ones, separatists,” first appears during theRead More

Today’s passage reads from John 1:19-34. We hear in this passage about the testimony of John about Jesus Christ. It was customary in those days as I have learnt that when a king was about to arrive, a forerunner would be send to announce the imminent arrival of the king. In this instance, John was the forerunner or what they call a herald for our king Jesus. Let’s get into the passage, starting from verse 19… John 1:19-34 (ESVST) 19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “ Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “ I am not the Christ.” Who is this John being referred to in this verse. Well, John is the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Looking at this passage, Luke 1:13-17 (ESVST), Luke tells us that the birth of John was foretold by an Angel from God who told Zechariah that he will have a child who he must name John. He was told that this child must not drink wine and will come in the spirit and power of Elijah. His mission will be to prepare theRead More

I have decided that we should undertake a task of going through the bible verse by verse. Seems impossible, not really, it has been done before. The aim is to ensure that everyone actually reads and understand the word of God. If I can’t get you to read it, I will read it with you. Sounds fun. Let’s start with the Gospel of John and make our way through it. Ready? Go! John 1:1-18 (ESVST) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In the beginning means before all time. The word existed, this same word was with God and this word was God. The word “word” is a Greek word meaning “logos” which means a word, saying or speech. All we know from the first verse is that there was a word from the beginning and this word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. Then verse 2 starts with the word “He”. This he was in the beginning with God. Now at this stage, it is not clear wether the word “He” refers to the word “Word” that was referred to in verse 1. AllRead More

We continue now where Jesus had just told the multitude that he will give his flesh which is the bread of life as a sacrifice so that the world may live. This is where we will continue today. John 6:52-71 (ESVST) The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “ How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 JesusRead More

In the previous message about the bread of life, we saw Jesus with the multitude of people who followed him on the other side of the sea at Capernaum. These were those people that Jesus fed a night before with bread and fish. They once again came to Jesus in anticipation of another feeding. Jesus knowing this told them that they should be looking instead for the bread that will give them eternal life. Jesus told them that he is the bread of life and that it is the will of God that, all those that believe in him, he must not lose and he will raise them on the last day and that it is the will of God that we must believe in him. That was John 6:30-40. Now, Jesus continues his talk in verse 41-51, which is our passage today. John 6:41-51 (ESVST) So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “ I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “ Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven ’?” This is again a veryRead More

Today’s message is from the gospel of John chapter 6:30-40. We find Jesus and his disciples at Capernaum after he left those that were following him knowing that they would take him by force to make him King. This was after he had taken 5 barley loaves and 2 fish and fed the multitude of them. He told his disciples to take the boat and go to the other side of the sea and he followed them later by walking on the sea. When the multitude saw and were amazed that Jesus was not there, they followed him to the other side of the sea. Our scripture resumes at the point where the multitude has now found Jesus and were asking him to pretty much give them food again. Jesus said to them that they are not looking for him because of signs and miracles that he did but rather, they were looking for the bread that he gave them yesterday again. John 6:30-40 (ESVST) So they said to him, “ Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as itRead More

We all have role models and we all aspire to be like these role models. As children of God, what kind of a role model from the bible can we look up to? Who in the bible is your role model? (Ladies, today I am only talking to men but it will be worthwhile for you to also read because what we will be talking about affects your children who are at this stage boys but will be men one day.). Is Paul your role model? What about Peter or James or Moses or even Abraham, who is your role model? Would it not be better to have a role model from the bible instead of a role model from this earth that for now is under the rule of the prince of air? Have you ever asked yourself, based on what is shown on TV these days, what your child’s role model is or will be? Hip hop starts, actors, singers? Can you say that of all that is shown on TV these days, you are happy and confident that your child will be able to choose a good role model? Yes, No, not sure? What about yourself, areRead More

Luke 17:11-19 (ESVST) On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “ Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “ Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus ‘feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “ Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem in verse 11 above and he passed along between Samaria and Galilee. The bible says when he entered the village, he was met by ten lepers. Leprosy was an unattractive skin disease (not limited to what is calledRead More

There are certain words that are very difficult to say in this world of ours. These are made difficult simply because they affect our egos and pride. To name just two of them, “sorry and thank you”. They are difficult and affect one’s ego because sorry, means you admit to being wrong and thank you, you admit to have needed help or what ever it is that you received from the other person. Today I want us to talk about saying thank you to God. What does the word of God say about this? Well, let’s find out? We all go through problems in life. We all go through some hardship in life. While some are created by our own doing, some are created and allowed by God to discipline us. Hebrews 12:7-11 (ESVST) It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much moreRead More

It is quite sad and disturbing to see or experience a situation where you are held to ransom by your own parent. Most of us have been raised by a single parent who had to work very hard to get us where we are. This is highly appreciated and commendable as most single parents these days, simply abandon their children. The bad side of this situation is that some parents after having done all this, feel entitled to the income of their children and this entitlement is lifetime. They never let go, never appreciate and start to develop greed, selfishness and hate. This mostly develops when the child marries or is married. They see their child’s spouse as an enemy and as a stumbling block to their financial state. The poor wife or husband endures very bad situations. Not only is it quite a good thing in the eyes of God to take care of your parent(s), it also makes moral sense. However, when the parent’s sense of entitlement is so severe that the parent fails to see a difference between his/her own income and the income of his/her child and this entitlement affects their child’s marriage or life, itRead More